Stay Strong
by I LUV PEETA
Summary: I am Madge Undersee. I volunteered for the 74th Hunger Games. There are 23 kids out there that want my blood. I may be in love with one of them.  I joined the worst alliance in the games. I'm probably going to die. Let the games begin. RATED T 4 VIOLENCE
1. Chapter 1

**HEY EVERYONE! THIS IS CHAPTER ONE OF STAY STRONG! Ok, so here's the thing I'm not going to go into detail about, the rules and stuff of the Hunger Games/Panem because if you are reading this then you have read the Hunger Games and you know them already. Also, i'm not going to curse so at some points it may seem like they should go in there but I don't put them in there. Also, I'm like...eleven chapters into writing it, so I CAN EDIT STUFF! Please give me pointers and stuff so by the end of this story it will be AWESOME! :D PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review so I know I'm not writing for no one. :) Also, I'm going to try to make this different from the HG, but at some points they will seem similar. So with out further delay...STAY STRONG! :D :D :D**

**I LUV PEETA 3**

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><p>Stay Strong Chapter One<p>

"Good morning mother!" I said as I walked into my mother's room. She sat on her bed with her hands on her head muttering to herself. I sighed and hugged her, "Mom, do you want me to make you breakfast?" She looked up at me, her dark blue eyes burdened with sadness.

"Your aunt was a beautiful girl you know…she was so kind and never did anything wrong…" She looks up into my eyes. "Honey, I need to do something for me." I smiled at her.

"Sure mother, anything for you." A pure look of hatred washed over her face.

"Be Maisley. Stop being you! You are nothing compared to Maisley!" Tears went down my face and I stuttered,

"B-but mother, you can't really mean that right?" She grabbed me and shoved me off the bed.

"Yes I do, and…and if you can't be like her, just go and volunteer!" I gasped and got up. My mother put a hand over her mouth and got out of her trance. "Oh Madge, I'm so sorry I didn't mean it…" She reached and grabbed my hand but I shook it off.

"No mother, you did. But mother I'm not mad…" this was hard to say but I knew I had to. "But I love you and me being here with you, you'll never get better. I love you mother. Always remember that." I got up and put on the best dress I could find. Today I'm going to volunteer for the Hunger Games.

I walked into the town square for the reaping's. I wore a white dress that went down to my knees. A boy named Josh came up to me and put his hand around me. He had blonde hair that was cut short and he had bright blue eyes. He is my best friend, well guy friend, in the world. "Hey Madge!" I smiled weakly at him. I need to tell him, he deserves to know.

"I'm…good" _Chicken. _ I couldn't tell him, it would be too hard. "So how are things doing at the bakery?" Josh was one of the baker's three sons; he's the middle child. He has one brother who is my age and one who is twenty.

"Okay…you know that girl you're friends with…Katniss?" I looked at him and nodded. Katniss and I are not the kind of friends that have sleep overs and talk about guys. We just like being alone…together. She lives in the Seam, the poor part of District 12. She has had to provide for her family ever since her father died in a mining accident. "Well my brother Peeta, has a _huge_ crush on her, and he's like freaking out that she'll get picked." _He doesn't have to worry; even if she is picked…I'll volunteer. _

"Oh that sucks." I said, even though I knew it didn't, Josh nodded. A voice came over the loud speaker telling us to get to our age section.

"Well, good luck Madge." I hugged him really tight and said,

"You to." He looked at me and smiled. I looked around and found the sixteen-year-old section.

Effie Trinket, a crazy capital lady, bounced on stage with her faded pink wig tilted and her make-up was even crazier than last year. I looked through the crowd and saw Katniss saying good-bye to her little sister, Prim. Prim is twelve years old and even though she lives in the Seam, where everyone has olive skin and black hair, she has blonde hair that falls down to her shoulders and bright blue eyes like me. I gulped.

"Ok! Now let's continue with the drawings for the 74th Annual Hunger Games!" She skipped down to the pool of slips with every single child in District Twelve from the ages of twelve to eighteen names in it. "Ladies first!" _Ok, maybe I'm over-reacting. _Her hand dug into the slips of paper. _I'm not going to volunteer that's crazy. _She picked out the unlucky name that was going to be this year's girl tribute. "Primrose Everdeen!"

"No." I whispered to myself. Katniss started pushing through the crowd to get to Prim who was walking rigidly to the stage. Katniss opened her mouth but I opened it first. "I volunteer!" I say loudly and start to walk up to the stage. All of the shocked eyes in the audience turn to me. Katniss gave me a shocked glance and I decided something right away that if I was going to win I needed to be strong. "Didn't want you to steal all the glory, right?" I sneered. Katniss nodded numbly and grabbed Prim.

"Well, well. You're excited…now what is your name dearie?"

"Madge Undersee. And yes I am _the _mayor's daughter." I beamed giving the crowd a flashing smile. They gave me cold stares and I knew what they were all thinking: _I hope you die first_. But, they don't matter it is the sponsors who matter. Effie gave a squeal of delight; she was obviously excited about me.

"Well, on to the boys!" _Josh. _I look through the crowd and I saw him in there with tears streaming down his face. My teeth clenched and I tried not to cry. Effie's hand grabbed a slip of paper and she grabbed it and read it. "Josh Mellark!"

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><p><strong>There it is! PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ REVIEWFAVORITE!**

**I'll try to get the next chapter out soon...reviewing may make it come faster...just saying (It motivates me ;)**

**I LUV PEETA**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, so I'm sad. I still have't gotten any reviews yet :( So...to make me happy just click the review button and drop in a review! It doesn't have to be long at ALL. You don't need an account either! Ok well this chapter is longer than the first one...which is good because I realized how short the first chapter was...don't worry most of my chapters will be about this length. So...here is chpater two of stay strong!**

**PS. If u find any mistakes plz tell me so i can fix them**

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><p>Stay strong Chapter Two<p>

"Josh Mellark!"_ No, not Josh. That's unfair, he's my best friend…I can't kill him! _

"I volunteer!" _What? Who volunteered? _I search the crowd until I see Peeta Mellark, Josh's brother, walking up to the stage. Josh gave me a shocked look and fainted. This is definitely probably the most interesting reaping District 12 has ever had.

"Oh my! Can we have a medic get him?" Effie Trinket called looking into the crowd. Peeta climbed up on stage as a Peace Keeper grabbed Josh and took him away. Effie turned to Peeta and asked him what his name was,

"Peeta Mellark." She smiles and says,

"Well, didn't want the older brother to take all the glory?"

"Nope I didn't" Peeta said but not very convincingly. She smiled and called up Father to give his speech. Father came up with tears in his eyes and mumbled into the microphone about the dark days. Peace Keepers grabbed my arms and shoved me into the Justice Building.

"Why?" Katniss asked as Prim sat on her lap. I smiled and just said,

"It was the right thing to do." Then Prim broke down, tears streaming down face.

"T-thank y-you so much!" I gulped down a wave of tears that was coming up my body. I couldn't come out of the Justice Building with tears on my face; they would count me out for sure.

"Don't worry, and don't get all depressed if I…don't make it." I couldn't say die…I just couldn't. Prim thanked me one more time and hugged me so hard I had trouble breathing. Katniss came up to me and mumbled,

"I didn't really think we were friends. At least not like _this_." I smile and nodded,

"Don't worry about it." She hugged me and walked out. Next Father came in with Mother. Mother hugged me straight away and moaned,

"I'm sorry, I'm so, _so _sorry! This is all my fault!" I grabbed her and looked her straight in the eyes.

"No it's not," I told her firmly "We all know whose fault it is and they don't live in District Twelve." I didn't say it out loud that I was talking about the Capital but she could guess that. She took out a pin that had a Mockingjay on it.

"Take it. It was Mailsey's but you deserve it now." I was shocked. Mother was giving me something that was Maisley's!

"Mother, thank you so much." Father had been quiet up to this point but then mumbled something very quietly. "What was that Father?" He looked at me and this time said four words that changed everything.

"I can't forgive you." That was horrible. The way he said it, I could tell he was _never_ going to forgive me. I didn't even bother to fight for him…there was no point. Volunteering for the Hunger Games, which he hates, and acting like I was happy…there was no going back to our old relationship. But Mother went ballistic. She screamed at my Father and started clawing at his face. Two Peace Keepers came in and sedated her. As he walked out I said one last thing to him.

"Take care of her." He gave me a curt nod than walked away. I had one last visitor…Josh.

He walked in with a cut on his head, I guess from his fall, and sat down next to me. I decided to tell him up-front. "You can want Peeta to win…I don't mind." He looked at me and said something I really didn't expect,

"You will both win." I gave him a puzzled look,

"What? Are you ok? You know that only one of us can win…or neither." He just smiled and said,

"You'll find out when the time comes." I rolled my eyes just thinking he was still a little crazy from his fall. A Peace Keeper came in and told him he had to go. "Oh! And one more thing!" I got up and tried to tell the Peace Keepers to let him stay for just one minute but they wouldn't listen. "Just don't let them-"a door slamming in his face cut him off. I tried to keep a straight face but I could feel the tears coming into my eyes. _Stay strong Madge. Don't cry. _Effie bounced in and I smiled at her.

"Time to go on the train Madge!" _You need to play the part Madge. _I squealed in excitement, well fake excitement, and hugged her.

"Oh my! I'm just so excited! I'm going to the Capital!" Effie hugged me and walked me to the train station. A few reporters were in the train station and they asked me a few questions and I just smiled and acted happy. Once we got on the train Effie showed me my room and told me dinner would be at six o'clock. I sat down and sighed. I needed to get my thoughts straight,

"I am Madge Undersee. I volunteered to be in the Hunger Games. My best friend was picked but his little brother took his place. There are 23 children out there that want my blood. My father basically dis-owned me. Everyone thinks I am ecstatic about being a tribute in the Hunger Games. I am probably going to die." That didn't sound any better out loud than in my head. _Stay strong Madge, stay strong. _I repeated to myself.

I put on a silk blouse and a blue skirt and walked over to the dining hall. Effie sat there with a whole new outfit. Haymitch, the only living District Twelve victor sat there sipping a bottle of wine. He has been an alcoholic ever sense the games. "Hello Madge!" squealed Effie and I waved and sat down across from her. Just as I sat down Peeta came in and smiled at me. He sat down right next to me. Haymitch, obviously drunk, smiled and burst out into laughter. "What is _so_ funny Haymitch?" Effie hissed.

"You believe that she is happy to be here!" _Crap. Haymitch shut-up please!_ Effie looked at me and I looked down at my plate. Thankfully Peeta saved me.

"Effie everyone has different ways of winning the games. This is Madge's" I smiled at him and mumbled,

"Thanks." Effie stood up and said,

"Next time, I would prefer not to be lied to." She started to walk out when I stopped her,

"You won't tell the sponsors will you?" She looked at me and mumbled,

"Don't worry I want to be promoted, and you have a running chance, so no I won't stop you…for now." I gulped as she walked out of the room. _Ok, my only hope now is Haymitch. _I walked up to him and smacked the bottle out of his hand.

"What the crap? Why did you do that?" He said with a murderous look in his eyes. I held his glare and yelled,

"You are going to make sure either Peeta or I win the games, OK?" He stayed there for a minute than got up and walked out. Peeta looked at me and I smiled timidly. "Sorry." I said in a tiny voice. I waited for him to explode at me for pretty much taking away the help of our mentor and our escort but instead he said,

"Come with me." I look at him puzzled and he groaned, "Just trust me, OK?" I sighed and nodded. He smiled and took me up to stairs that lead up to a wooden door.

"Where are we going?" He smiled and ignored my question,

"When we got on the train I didn't feel like moping around so I explored and I found this." He opened the door. Inside was a whole room with tapes lined up and down the walls.

"What is it?" I asked looking at the huge TV screen at the end of the room. He smiled,

"It's the Hunger Games screening room."

"What's a Hunger Games screening room?" I asked,

"It haves all of the past Hunger Games in here _and_ we can watch the reaping's from here. I'm guessing you don't really want to talk to Effie and Haymitch right now." I smiled and hugged him,

"Thanks." Peeta turned on the TV and we sat down to watch the reaping's. Districts One and Two were the classic careers. Three and Four were nothing special. The girl from Five, Maria, who is fourteen I think…looks just like a fox and seems ready to kill. Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine were just the usual. District Ten's boy was seventeen and had a crippled leg. My heart broke when I saw a little twelve-year-old walk onto the stage for District Elven. Her name is Rue Lilac and she seemed pretty determine to win. The boy from Elven, Thresh, is eighteen and is huge. _Ok, so look out for Districts One, Two, Maria, and Thresh. _Next up is District Twelve.

My heart is racing. _What if I look stupid or weak up there? _I squeezed Peeta's hand out of nervousness. I watch as Prim's name is called out and she starts to make it to the stage. The camera focuses on me as I say I will volunteer. I see myself as I talked to Katniss and almost barfed as I say myself being so much like a…career. It shows me grab the microphone from Effie and brag about how I'm the mayor's daughter. _Disgusting. _That finished the reaping's and they played the anthem and showed the Capital seal.

"Well, we might as well go to bed." Sighed Peeta, starting to get up. I grabbed his hand and mumbled,

"Wait, one second." He gave me a weird look, and then sat down.

"Ok…what's up?" I shifted around so I was looking him dead in the eye. _Come on…ask him!_

"Why did you volunteer?" I could see he was hoping I wasn't going to ask that question. He groaned then finally gave in and told me,

"Well, right away when Prim was picked I felt horrible. I thought Katniss would volunteer and I guess she would have it you hadn't volunteered. So then I realized how bummed Josh would have been because…" I trailed off so I filled in for him,

"We're best friends." He gave a nervous chuckle,

"Yeah…that." _Why did he say it like that?_ I shook it off and urged him to continue.

"So after you volunteered, which was an amazing thing to do, I looked back to see Katniss run and kiss Gale. I guess almost going to the Hunger Games pushed them together. So…then Josh was chosen and I had nothing at home anymore…so, I volunteered." _Wow, that's sad. _And before I could stop myself I blurted out,

"Wow, that's sad." I instantly clapped my hand over my mouth. He smiled and nudged me,

"Yeah it is…so why did you volunteer?" I gulped,

"Well, my mother I guess."

"Oh yeah, Josh told me about her…headaches." I could tell he was trying to be gentle about her situation.

"Well, it's not just headaches, that's just what we tell the District Twelve. She is really insane, like Annie Cresta insane, and she has these…fits. She had one the day of the reaping's and told me to, stop being me." By now I was crying, "I guess I look a lot like Maisley, my mother's sister, and she told me to be Maisley. And if I couldn't I-I should just go volunteer. Right after she had said that, she started apologizing but I realized right then that my mom would never get better with me being there with her. So I volunteered." He hugged me and I sobbed in his arms for what it seems like hours. Once I was done I was so tired I just fell asleep in his arms.


	3. Chapter 3

**OK THANKS SO MUCH TO M FIRST REVIEWER! OK, so I'm rlly srry that I haven't updated sooner...but because of that I'll try to get two out this week! OK, so I first want to apologize for the mushy stuff in the beginning of this... but it fits in with the story DON'T WORRY. Also I forgot to say this earlier but yes I did name Josh after Josh Hutcherson (the actor who plays Peeta) so...yeah. Also you may find out a little known (little known because I made it up) fact about Effie. Also I realized I forgot to say this in my other two chapters...**

** I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES...AN AMAZING PERSON NAMED SUZANNE COLLINS MADE THEM. **

**OK, well here is chapter three Stay Strong...**

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><p>Stay Strong Chapter Four<p>

"_Hey!" I looked behind me to see Josh standing there. _

_ "Josh! I thought you were back in District Twelve!" I hugged him. I looked up and saw that it was actually Peeta I was hugging. _

_ "He is Madge. But I'm here." He leaned in and kissed me. I think I liked it. _

I jolted awake in Peeta's arms. He smiled at me and I got up really quickly and I told him I needed to get changed. He asked me what was wrong but I ignored him and kept walking. I ran into my room and slammed the door. _What was that? Did I just have a dream about Peeta? Do I _like_ him?_ I shook the thought away and took a shower. When I got out of the shower I put on a blue dress and black lace up boots. I let my hair down and walked into the dinning room.

Effie sat on the far end of the table with pink hair and the tightest dress I've ever seen. "Hello Madge, have you seen Peeta?" She said as bubbly as ever. I guess she got over me faking my attitude and all.

"No." I said in a tight voice and sat down next to her. But of course right when I said that he walked in and sat next to me.

"What was that about?" He whispered quietly.

"Nothing!" I said a little bit to loudly. Effie looked at me quite weirdly but kept going on.

"So, in about an hour we're pulling into the Capital!" She let out a squeal, and then her face went into a scowl. "Now, where _is_ Haymitch? I haven't seen him sense yesterday!" Peeta and I exchanged a glance, but said nothing. We ate in silence for a few minutes with our heads down until I heard a voice,

"Ok, I sobered up! Now how are you guys going to win the games?" I smiled as I looked up to see Haymitch standing there in a nice suit and a shaved face. I looked over and saw Peeta smiling to. "_Well?_" Haymitch snapped. I snapped back into reality and shuddered out,

"Um well, I'm pretty good with a knife and I can do some pretty fancy things with a rope." They eyed me, probably wondering how I knew how to do that stuff, so I explained, "My father was convinced that because I'm, wait no, _was _mayor's daughter I would have been picked. He didn't want me to die so I trained." There was an awkward silence than Haymitch started laughing. "What?" He managed to stutter out between his laughs,

"You really are a career!" I burst into tears. Haymitch immediately stopped and snapped,

"Sweetheart you may not want to do that considering you're going to be swarmed by reporters in about twenty minutes." I stopped and tried to clean off my face.

"Um I do wrestling and I'm good with using knifes." Peeta said trying to bring the attention away from me. "And of course I quite the charmer." That brought a smile to my face.

"Well, I guess I can work with you two." I sighed. _Haymitch did as he promised, wow. _"Now once we get off the train you our your stylist's property. You will everything they ask you to, no matter how ridiculous." We started to object but he cut us off, "_Anything they say_!" Peeta and I say this at the same time,

"Fine!" With that we were dismissed and I ran into my room and looked in the mirror. My face was blotchy and mascara was running down my cheeks. I was about to clean myself up when I heard a knock at my door. "Come in!" I called and Effie stepped in. She had a bag of make-up in her hands and sat next to me.

"You can't come off the train looking like that…come here." She applied make-up to my face. I looked in the mirror and I looked amazing.

"Wow…Effie I look amazing." I gushed, not playing a part,

"I was part of a Prep Team until a few years ago." I never knew that about Effie. The train can to a halt and I fell to the ground. Effie giggled and helped me get up. "Come on its time to meet your stylists!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the gate.

"Wow." I mumbled in awe as I looked at the Capital. The buildings reached the clouds and the buildings were colors I've never seen before. I saw crazy looking people screaming my name holding cameras taking pictures of me. I smiled, waved, and even blew a few kisses. A group of Peace Keepers surrounded Peeta and I as we walked to the training center. I was so claustrophobic I felt like I was going to puke. We finally stopped at a huge building that said, _Hunger Games Styling Center_, written right above the huge doors.

We got into an elevator and Effie hit a button with the number twelve and we started going up. Effie started humming the song that was playing as we went up the elevator. Peeta smiled at me and I smiled back. We haven't really talked sense my freak out this morning. We got to level twelve and Effie and Haymitch stepped out. "Go to level fourteen and your stylists will take it from there." Peeta and I nodded. I pressed the button with the number fourteen and we headed up.

"Ow!" I mumbled as Octavia, a woman on my prep team ripped the last bit of hair off my legs. She scolded me about talking out to her but nothing besides that. The rest of my prep team and Octavia circled around me until the bounced out to get my stylist. I stood there for about a minute, naked, waiting for my stylist to come in. Finally a fairly normal looking man walked in. He had brown hair that was styled in a short cut. The only odd thing about him about him was the golden eyeliner around his eyes.

"Hello Madge, I'm Cinna, and I'm going to be your stylist this year." It's funny he didn't have a Capital accent like everyone else in the Capital. He looked up and down my body and then threw a robe at me.

"You can put this on now." I silently thanked god that I didn't have to show anyone my body anymore as I shoved on the robe. He walked over to the couch and motioned for me to sit down. As I sat down next to him and he smiled.

"What?" I asked, a smile rising on my face.

"What am I here to do?" _Weird question. _

"To make me look pretty." He chuckled.

"No, you don't need any help doing that…" I smiled at his complement, "I'm here to make sure they remember you."

"Um ok…so how are going to make them remember me?" I wicked smile came across his face, _He is going to make me naked for the opening ceremonies, _

"Madge, are you afraid of fire?"

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><p><strong>Ok, kinda short chapter but whatever. Also don't worry Madge's look will be different for the interviews *devilish grin* so don't worry. Also with Effie I wanted to show a nicer side of her. Because I always thought Madge was polite and stuff so Effie would be nicer. OK, so REVIEW PLZ! Remember u can ask me any questions u would like so I can make the story better. Also, if u want to check out my other story Last Grain of Hope...it's another HG story so...yeah! <strong>

**C ya later!**

**I LUV PEETA **

**PS. REVIEW! **


	4. Chapter 4

**HEY! Ok, so I was ganna update on Tuesday but Glee and Dancemoms were on...so I HAD to watch those...yesterday I was just being lazy X( But I decided to update today! :D OMG OMG did anyone see the new pic for the HG of Peeta and Katniss in their "fire" outfits..IT'S SO COOL! :D Also like ten more ppl added this story to their alert thingy and like three ppl added this story to their fav's and one person posted another comment! THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY :D...Ok, so who is mad they cut Madge from the Movie? ME! AND they cut Buttercup! BUTTERCUP! ):( Ok, well here is chapter four of Stay Strong :D**

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><p>Stay Strong Chapter Five<p>

I stood in a black suit and leather lace up-boots. It had a cape and a crown on it that we are suppose to be able to light on fire. _I'm going to die before I even go into the arena. _Peeta was wearing the same thing as me and looked just as nervous as I felt. Cinna and Portia, Peeta's stylist, walked up to us with two torches. "Ok, now this is synthetic fire so it _should_ not hurt." I looked around, trying to find Haymitch to stop this from happening, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Haymitch?" I muttered to Peeta,

"Probably couldn't let him near the fire. You know how alcohol sets it off." I started laughing so hard everyone in the entire room started at me. I didn't care, maybe I was going nuts, but I would be dead within a few days anyways.

After I finally stopped laughing Cinna and Portia lit Peeta and I up. I braced myself for pain, but instead I felt just slight tickling. Cinna and Portia hollered with excitement. The chariots started going out and I put on the best smile possible. As our chariot started moving, Cinna yelled something but I couldn't make it out. "I think he told us to hold hands." I gratefully grabbed his hand like a lifeline as the chariot rolled out. At first there were a few screams of terror as they saw us on fire but eventually they realized we were ok they went crazy. They chanted our names and a few even threw some roses at us.

I caught the roses in my hand and blew kisses to the crowd. A few people tried to catch the kissed with their hands. _Freaks_. I could see some of the other tributes looking back to see what was going on. All of the screens had us on the screens. I saw myself on there and I looked…like a god. It seemed like I could just rise above all of them. Finally we reached the Training Center and got out of our chariot. The other tributes, mainly the careers, were giving us dirty looks. "Um, Madge, you can let go now." I blushed and let go of Peeta's hand. Two Peace Keepers came over and extinguished Peeta and I.

"Madge?" A huge voice said behind me. I turned around to see Cato standing there. He was at least a foot taller than me, but we actually looked alike. He had bright blue eyes, had bright blonde, and teeth as white as snow. I have to say, I was attracted to him. _Play the part Madge. _

"It's Cato right?" I said in a career tone. He smiled and put his hand around me.

"Yes. That was pretty cool out there. The fire and all." By now his lips were just an inch from my face.

"Sad, that I outshone you?" I said in a mocking voice. He chuckled,

"Yeah sure. Listen do you want to hang out with us tomorrow during training?" _Wow, Cato just me to join the careers! I'm going to be killing people and have to act like I'm enjoying it. Play your part Madge, play your part._

"I would _love_ to." I went put my lips in his ears and whispered "See you then." I stalked off and found Peeta with Effie and Haymitch. Haymitch gave me a smug look as I walked over to him.

"Hello, little miss career." I sneered at him and told him in a mocking voice,

"Guess I'm just…_irresistible_." Effie gave me a confused look,

"What are careers Madge?" _Oh right, Effie doesn't know about our nicknames. _I was about to respond when Peeta cut in.

"The tributes from One, Two, and Four that form an alliance." Effie's face lit up and she squealed,

"You're in the star alliance! How exciting!" _I guess star alliance is one of the Capital terms. _I looked over and smiled at Peeta and he gave me a weak smile back. Cinna and Portia came bouncing over.

"You looked amazing!" Portia squealed. She hugged Peeta and I so tight I felt like I was going to hurl. I eventually pushed Portia off of me and went over to Cinna. I hugged him and mumbled into his shoulder,

"Thanks so much. I'm with the careers, wait _star alliance_, now. I never could have done it without you." He smiled and beamed,

"No problem." After a few minutes Peeta and I said goodnight and went into the elevator. After a very awkward silence Peeta said,

"Do you want to see something cool?" I looked at him while a grin appeared across my face.

"Ok…what is it." The elevator came to a smooth halt and Peeta grabbed my arm and pulled me out. "Why don't I show you?" He pulled me up to these stairs that lead to a big door at the top of them. He opened the door and a gasp escaped my lips. It was the roof of the training center.

"Wow…it's amazing." I murmured looking around. You could see the Capital's lights gleaming all around you and there was a garden on it with flowers I've never seen before. "How do you know about it?" He was looking off the roof and said happily,

"Portia told me about it." I looked off the steep edge of the roof. We must have been at least a mile up.

"Aren't they afraid that we'll jump?" He grabbed a pebble and threw it off and it came back up like it had bounced off something.

"Nope, they have a force field around the whole place. Wouldn't want us to die without all of Panem seeing it." He said it in such a sarcastic tone I was afraid Peace Keepers would take him away any moment. "Oh and don't worry, they can't hear us." He sat down and told me to sit next to him.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled to him.

"About what?" He asked,

"I don't know. You being picked, me joining the careers, or about Katniss." At the last part I looked over to him and saw tears in his eyes.

"You know what my mom said to me before I went on the train?" His voice seemed hollow, like nothing mattered anymore.

"No." I said with a hint of question in my voice.

"She said, "Who knows District Twelve may have a winner this year. That girl is a fighter." she thinks that you are going to win Madge."

"I'm-I'm sorry Peeta." His voice picked up again and he smiled,

"It's ok, my mom always hated me. So…what happened this morning?" _Crap. _

"Nothing just a bad dream." I said a little bit too quickly. He glanced at me suspiciously but changed the subject.

"Any plans about the games?"

"You mean besides joining the group that kills the most people in the entire games, or having to pretend that I like killing innocent people? No, besides that I don't." I said harshly. Peeta, ignoring my harshness, sighed.

"I have a plan."

"What is it?" He smiled and got up.

"You'll see." He patted my shoulder and said, "By the way, you talk in your sleep." He laughed as he got off the roof. I sat there stunned. I must have said something in my sleep last night! Oh god, what if he knows what my dream was about! I got up and ran after Peeta.

"Peeta! What do you mean?" I called as I ran down the stairs. When I got to the bottom Peeta was out of sight. I just silently prayed he doesn't know about my dream.

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><p><strong>Was that a good cliff hanger? No? Oh well. REVIEWALERT/FAV**

**I LUV PEETA **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! Sorry about the LONG wait for the update...I've been really sick for the last few days and I couldn't upload. I'm still sick but I feel like I owe it to you to put it up!**

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><p><em>Stay Strong Chapter Five<em>

_I ran through the woods being chased by some sort of mutation. Peeta was next to me as I ran. "Peeta it's coming closer!" I yelled though I don't think he heard me. Before Peeta could reply the mutation busted through the trees. I was a lizard like creature with the face of President Snow as its face. It smiled at me and then bit Peeta's head off. "No!" I screamed running up to him. Tears streamed down my face as I begged him to get up. I looked up at the face of President snow and asked him one simple question. "Why?" _

_ "Well, this is the Hunger Games, right?" He laughed and bit my heart out. _

I screamed as I woke up as looked around. "Ok Madge, tell you self the facts." I murmured to myself. "My name is Madge Undersee. I volunteered to be in the Hunger Games. Peeta Mellark is my best friend's brother and is my District Partner. I joined the careers, which means I'm going to have to kill a lot of kids and pretend I like it. And to just add to the fun, I think I'm in love with Peeta. If I'm going to win the games he is going to have to die…" A tear slid down my face and I wiped it off. "Stay strong Madge, stay strong."

After I had gotten a shower I rapped a towel around me and walked out of the bathroom. On the bed was our training outfit. I put it on with ease. They already know my sizes…creepy. I put on black sneakers and applied some make-up. I put my hair into a ponytail and went out for breakfast. Effie was there with Haymitch and Peeta. Once I sat down Haymitch sighed, "Ok now to you want to be coached separately or together?" Peeta and I said separately at the same time. Haymitch smiled.

"Ok. Madge come over hear." He and I walked over to the coach and he looked at me. "You're pretty easy just keep acting like you have been and have fun with the careers sweetheart."ry

"Don't call my sweetheart." I muttered but just laughed and gave me one last piece of advice.

"Don't go to the stations you're good at sweetheart." I scowled at him and told me to call Peeta in. I told Peeta and sat down next to Effie and ate my breakfast.

"So Effie," I said through a mouthful of eggs, "What _is _your natural hair color?" She gave me a dumbfounded look and I started laughing.

"Madge, if you _must_ know it was matching everyone else in the room." I smiled at her.

"You were blonde?" She smiled and nodded.

"Yes Madge I was for about a year then my hair was blue, then yellow, then black, then red, then purple, and now pink." _Wow._

"Cool!" Just then Peeta and Haymitch walked into the room. Effie looked at her watch and jumped right out of her seat.

"Oh my! We're going to be late!" She shoved us all into the elevator and slammed her hand on the number thirteen. We walked into the training room just in time. I rushed in and started acting. I spotted Cato across the room with the other careers. There is the Districts One and Two girls, which are exact opposites. The girl from District One is tall, blonde, gorgeous, and an airhead. She had a blank look on her face and was giggling like crazy. The girl from District Two is a little bit taller than me, has straight brown hair, and looks like she is going to kill the District One girl.

The District One boy is pretty average and Cato is, well, Cato. Handsome, tall, muscular, and seems very social. District Four's tributes are just standing there and saying a word or two in a conversation. I started walking over there when the cripple boy from Ten walks, well more like hobbles, in front of me. I looked over and saw that all the careers are watching me now. _Play your part Madge._ I urged myself. "Excuse me, but the people who actually stand a chance in _winning_ these games need to be over there." I pointed to the careers that looked impressed by my response. I shoved him out of my way and waved at Cato. _Disgusting. _

"Hey Madge!" He called as I came up to them. I smiled and busted right into their group. I could tell they were all checking me out, the boy from District One in a perverted way. I looked over at Cato and shoved him a little bit.

"Cato? Don't be rude! Introduce me to your friends!" I sounded like a brat. Cato smiled and introduced me.

"Ok, this is Marvel and Glimmer from District One," Marvel smirked at me and Glimmer went up and hugged me. Ok, I don't like Glimmer either. "This is Clove from District Two," He motioned to his District partner who gave me a mean glare, "And Kalayia and Marko from District Four." The two District Four gave me little waves and mumbled welcomes. I am now a career.

"Tributes! Come over hear for a brief instruction on training." The careers and I walked over to the center of the training room while a gruff woman explained to us what we are doing for the next few days. Once she was done she let us go and the careers and I walked over to the knife throwing station. Clove came up to me and I smiled.

"Hey Clove." I said in a cheery voice. She glared at me and then shoved me against the wall and pinned me down.

"Listen little Miss. Mayor's daughter, I don't like you. So don't go acting like we are all _buddy, buddy_, ok?" _Prove yourself Madge. _I kneed Clove in the stomach and pushed her off of me.

"Note taken." I stepped over her and picked up a knife. I threw it and it hit the bull's-eye.

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><p><strong>OHHH SNAP! What's ganna happen? Who knows? Ok, if you guys want to cheack out an AMAZING HUNGER GAMES FAN FIC, cheack out SneverusSnapers Gnawing Hunger series! THEY'RE SO GOOD! <strong>

**I LUV PEETA**


	6. Chapter 6

**HEY! We're getting closer to the games! I just wanted to thank gabz1197 for being the first person to review, subscribe, and favorite! :D Also just wanted to say 54 days til the Hunger games premire! Who's going to see the midnight premire...(pfft school the next day whateva) **

**ALSO I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES! :( :( **

**Also sorry it says Seven...i got confuzled**

**I LUV PEETA**

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><p>Stay Strong Chapter Six<p>

All of the other tributes gawked at me._ Crap, think fast Madge, think fast. _"What? I'm good when I'm angry." I said defensively. They all still stood there. "Back to training!" I ordered and they all looked away, they probably didn't want to get to my bad side. Training went like that for the next few days: train, fight with Clove, train, fight with Clove. After training Peeta and I would go up on the roof and talk. I wished life could just stay like that.

Finally the day came when it was time for our private training sessions. The other careers and I sat together, waiting to be called up. I talked to Kalayia and Marvel. Kalayia was actually a lot like me, well the real me: shy and doesn't like talking to people. Marvel on the other hand followed me around like a lost puppy dog, which gets extremely annoying. Eventually a voice called in Marvel. Each tribute gets fifteen minutes and me being from District Twelve, I'm going last.

Once all of the other careers left I sat there alone for what it seems like hours. At last I was called in and I strode in confidently only to see that all of the game makers were drunk and weren't paying attention to me at all. I threw a few knifes but they were more interested in the pig and the bull they had to eat. The anger raised through me so much I picked up a knife and threw it. It hit the bull straight in the eye. I just got a bull's-eye.

Most of the game makers were in to much shock to do anything except for a few who were laughing because they figured it out. Finally one managed to stutter out "You may go." I bowed my head and strode out. When I got into the elevator I suddenly realized what I had just done. I threw a _knife_ at the game makers. I'm dead. As soon as the elevator got to my floor I ran straight to my room and started sobbing.

"Madge, it's ok. It's not as bad as you think." Peeta urged me.

"Trust me, it's not ok! It will never be ok!" Eventually Effie daintily knocked on my door and told me it was time to go to dinner. My hunger got the best of me and I went to the dinning room. Effie, Peeta, and Haymitch sat there, but thankfully didn't mention my break down. We all ate quietly until curiosity got the best of Effie.

"Oh come on! What happened?" Effie blurted out. Peeta thankfully cut in and bowed his head sadly.

"Well, I sucked. They were all to drunk to even notice me so I just threw around a few weights until they told me I could go. I'll be lucky if I get a three." Haymitch gave me a questioning glance and I gave in.

"I threw a knife at the game makers." I said with a small voice.

"You what?" Effie and Haymitch said at the same time as Peeta burst out into laughter.

"Well it's like what Peeta said, they weren't paying attention to me, and they were just drooling over their pig and their bull. So I threw a knife at it." Peeta managed tog get out through his laughter.

"The bull?" I nodded my head slowly. "Where?" he said in a tight voice.

"The eye. I got a bull's-eye, OK?" They were all silent except for Peeta who was laughing like crazy. "Are they going to kill me? Or my family?" I said in a quiet voice. This shut Peeta up.

"No, they're just going make your life suck in the arena." Haymitch said utterly defeated. I nodded my head solemnly.

"Well screw them!" We all looked at Effie with shocked faces. "What? It's their job to watch you! I don't blame you for what you did Madge, even though throwing knifes is never the answer, I can see why you did it." I smiled at Effie. I had to admit, I was starting to like Effie. Sure, she was blissfully ignorant to the horrible world around her, but she had good intentions at heart.

"Thanks Effie." Effie looked at the clock and jumped out of her seat.

"Oh! The training scores will be up soon!" We all rushed over to the screening room to see our scores. Most of the scores were pretty average except for little Rue who got a seven! I wonder what she did to impress the judges. Effie handed me a glass of water as Peeta's score went up. He got an eight, which is a great score for District Twelve. I took a nervous sip as my score went up. The number twelve came up under my picture. I just made Hunger Games history.

I spit out all of the water in my mouth and gasped for air. No one has _ever_ gotten a twelve. Effie and Peeta hollered and danced around.

"We need to talk." Haymitch muttered into my ear. I came with him to another room. "So, what does this mean?"

"It means I'm on top of all the sponsor's lists!" I giggled gleefully.

"And…who else's?" Then it dawned on me. I _just _made Hunger Games history.

"I'm on top of the sponsor's lists and… tribute's lists." _I'm dead. _

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><p><strong>First off I would like to say this is my favorite chapter. Like how Madge says "blissfully ignorant" XD or when Effie says screw them. OR THE BULL'S EYE XD...also what do you guys think about Madge getting a twelve too much? too little...JK. I guess i was in da zone when i wrote this :)<strong>

**Well, like i've said before review/fav/subscribe would be awesome! PLEASE GIVE ME THINGS I COULD MAKE MY WRITING BETTER WITH :) **

**One last thing you can probably already guess that I love Peeta *so much* :3 how about you? Gale, Peeta, Finnick,...HAYMITCH? :P Also just because I love Peeta won't change the story. It may be like the end of the HG or not. I know ;) *MWAHAHAHAHA* **

**I LUV PEETA**

**PS. I'll try to update soon but like I said I'm still sick and I'm trying to recover. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone! I'M SUCH A BAD PERSON FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER! But, anyways I just finished writing Stay Strong! So there are eighteen chapters all together...i think...there are two more chapters until the games start. This one and the one after. So there are a few things that stay the same and some different things...i know I probably left you hanging with my last little talk about Peeta...so hope you enjoy this chapter! **

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><p>Stay strong Chapter Seven<p>

The next day Peeta and I got four hours with Effie and Haymitch. I was with Haymitch for the first four hours. He stared at me for twenty minutes, not saying anything. Finally my nerves got the best of me and I snapped. "What?"

"I'm trying to figure out what to do with you." He mumbled. I sighed angrily.

"Isn't it easy? I'm a spoiled career girl!" He shook his head.

"No, no, no…that isn't enough. You're the girl who volunteered for a girl you don't even know-"

"I _do_ know her she's my friend's sister." I cut it. He just waved me off.

"Yeah whatever, you're the girl from District Twelve who is a career and the girl who got a _twelve_ in training. They're all dying to get to know the _real_ you." I gave him a puzzled look. "Here, I'll pretend to interview you and try to be cocky." We soon learned that I couldn't pull off cocky, sexy, humble, or fierce. I was hopeless.

"Ok, just try not to screw up to bad up there." After that I worked with Effie for four hours, which was pretty fun. She showed me how to walk in high heels, sit like a lady, and be polite.

"Oh Madge, you're a natural! This is the best session I've had, well, ever!" I smiled at her and hugged her.

"Thank you Effie."

After that Peeta and I are property of our prep teams. My prep team rushed in and gushed about me getting a twelve and how everyone in the Capital is buzzing about me. I just smiled and waited until Cinna came in. He told them what kind of make-up to do and how to do my hair. "Ok Madge, close your eyes." I did as I was told and felt as he slid a dress over me.

It felt like silk and went down to me knees. "Ok, you can open them now." I opened my eyes and looked into the mirror and was breath taken. My make-up was dark red that molded in with brown and I had deep red lipstick on. My hair had small red streaks in it with black tips. My dress looked like lava was flowing down my body.

"Wow." I whispered. He smiled and nodded looking like me.

"Well, I decided we should be powerful, but I wanted to keep the fire so…"

"Lava." I mumbled in amazement. He nodded. "Its amazing Cinna, to bad I'm going to suck in the interviews." He told the prep team to go and sat down with me.

"Why do you think you're going to suck?"

"Because I have no angle! Everyone who wins has an angle!" He nodded and looked at me.

"Why not just being yourself?" I started laughing. I think I went insane. "I'm serious! You're a delightful young lady and I think the people would love knowing you, the _real_ you."

"But if I act like myself they'll know I was lying." I argued.

"Here, do it half in half. Still act cocky but show your sensitive side to. Like how you volunteered for that little girl."

"Prim, her name is Prim." I cut in. He smiled.

"Ok, like how you volunteered for Prim. Why did you do that?"

"It was more for my mother. Her twin sister was in the games and died. Ever sense then, she's had these episodes and I don't think she'll get better until I was gone for awhile." He nodded.

"How did your father feel about this?"

"He dis-owned me." I muttered.

"I'm so sorry." He said I smiled and hugged him.

"Thanks Cinna, I think I'm ready now." Cinna lead me to the stage for the interviews.

"Good luck lava girl." I smiled at him and walked up. We were lead to seats to sit in until we were called up to talk to Caesar Flickerman, the interviewer. I sat in the chair, just like Effie had taught me, and looked at my fellow tributes. Glimmer was wearing a see-through gown, no surprise there. Clove was wearing a black dress with gaged edges and Cato was wearing a tux. He smiled at me and I smiled back.

Maria was wearing a orange jumpsuit that gave her the allusion of being a fox. Rue was wearing a purple dress with wings coming out from it. When I looked over at Peeta I nearly fell out of my chair. He was wearing a suit with a dark red tie. He looked like a god with his hair styled perfectly. I could see some of the girls drooling over him and I instinctively felt jealous, which was crazy. The interviews started and I sat there very lady-like.

When Clove went up I got a feeling of dread in my stomach. "So Clove," Caesar asked, "I heard that you and Madge don't get along to well, what do you have to say about that." Clove smiled evilly.

"Well, I'll be straight with you Caesar, I don't like her. She irritates me and I'm angry Cato let her into our alliance. And I don't know how in the world she got a twelve. Probably flashed the judges or something." It took all of my strength not get up and choke her. I just smiled at her and waved at the crowd. I looked over at Haymitch who was nodding in approval at my reaction. After that nothing interesting happened until Rue went up.

"So Rue, what is your strategy for the games?" Caesar asked her. With no hesitation she answered proudly.

"Well, if they can't catch me, they can't hurt me and I'm very hard to catch. So…don't count me out."

"I wouldn't in a million years." Caesar assured her. Finally it was my turn to go up and I strode up confidently. I shook hands with Caesar and took a seat. "Hello Madge." He greeted me.

"Hello Caesar, and may I say I love your outfit today!" He was wearing a dark blue suit with tiny little stars twinkling on it. He thanked me and got onto business.

"So Madge, what's your favorite thing here in the Capital?" I looked over at Cinna who gave me a reassuring nod and I blurted out.

"The roof." He gave me a puzzled look. "The roof on top of the training center with all of the flowers on it." He smiled, now knowing what I was talking about. "I think it's amazing at night seeing the beautiful Capital an flowers surrounding me.

"I've been up there a few times and even sometimes I take my beauty sleep up there. It works right?" He asked the crowd who started giving him reassuring words.

"And Cinna's clothing." Caesar smiled.

"Yes, how did you feel about you opening ceremony outfit?"

"I was thinking damn, Cinna is either a genius or a madman." The crowd burst into laughter at that.

"Which one is he?" Caesar asked, I think he seriously wanted to know.

"I'd say…both." This got the crowd they laughed so loudly I started laughing to. Once the crowd dies down Caesar smirked.

"What do you have to say about Clove's harsh words about you?"

"I'll get back to you when I finish her off in the arena." The crowd were shocked at my harshness. I smiled and they all started laughing. It's like they were my puppets.

"Well, let's talk about your training score. A twelve! No one has ever gotten a twelve before! What did you do in there to get that?"

"Well, lets just say I got a bulls-eye." I winked at the game makers who were dying of laughter. Caesar looked sick with not knowing what I did but moved on.

"So, lets talk about you volunteering. Why did you do that?" I told Caesar what I had told Cinna.

"But when I was about to volunteer I hesitated until I saw my friend Katniss' sister was picked and I knew I had to volunteer." Someone in the audience declared their love for me and I blushed.

"Well, well, well Madge it seems you have an admirer." I blew a kiss to the man who did that and he pretended to catch it. The buzzer rang and that was the end of my interview. I walked off and sat down. Peeta went up and I was impressed. He was extremely likeable and even made jokes that me laugh. Caesar asked Peeta why he volunteered and Peeta told them about Josh being my best friend and I smiled at the camera.

"So Peeta, you're a handsome young man, is there a lady at home?" He blushed.

"Well there was this one girl I liked…" I was surprised that he used past tense. "But the drawings brought her closer to another boy." I wondered if Katniss would figure out that he was talking about her. "But then I met someone else." _Oh no. _"She's kind, smart, and funny. But I don't think we're going to work out." _He wouldn't_.

"Why not?" Caesar inquired.

"Because…" _Please Peeta, don't. _"She came here with me."

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><p><strong>Ohhh...similar eh? Did you like the lava thing? I do...<strong>

**Ok, so I'll try to get the next chapter out soon because I want to get to the games! **

**OMG did you guys see the new HG trailer? I wish Madge was in the movie but I think they are handling it without her pretty well.**

**Also, if Madge had been in the movie who would you picture her as? **

**Ok, so PLEASE REVIEW! I know people are reading this because it's on they're alerts...so just PLEASE DROP IN A REVIEW! **

**They make me happy 83 **

**I LUV PEETA**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! Sorry it took so long to upload for some reason wouldn't load the login page :( I've been trying sense Sat. So no one commented but a few ppl added this story to their alerts. Guys leaving comments will make me SO HAPPY! :D :D I just realized how short this chapter is (850 words) shortest chapter yet :o So...I'll try to upload quick! :) **

**OK so in this chapter it has a lot of flashbacks. Sorry if it gets confusing! I'm SO EXCITED ABOUT THE SAFE AND SOUND MUSIC VIDEO! :D :D**

**Ok, sorry I rambled, here's chapter eight of Stay Strong! :)**

**I LUV PEETA**

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><p>Stay Strong Chapter Eight<p>

"Madge." I groggily opened my eyes to see Cinna standing over me with a grim look on his face. My heart felt heavy as he said. "It's time." I got up and put on a t-shirt and jeans. Cinna lead me to the roof where a hovercraft waited for me. When I got on it a happy, _to_ happy, looking lady injected a tracking device in my arm.

"I'm sorry about you and Peeta." The lady said with a thick Capital accent. I grimaced as I remembered last night. After Peeta had "declared his love for me" the interview was pretty much done and they played the anthem and I stalked off. Cato came up to me.

"So, are you and Peeta… doing any thing?" He trailed off.

"No Cato we're not." I said angrily. I ran into the elevator and slammed my hand on the number twelve. I couldn't believe Peeta did that! Does he think he could just play with my emotions? Oh, so this was the plan he was talking about? I could feel tears streaming down my face. When the doors opened I ran up to the roof and started crying.

"Madge!" I heard Peeta calling me as he ran up to the roof. I hid behind a grove of flowers and hoped Peeta wouldn't find me. "Madge I'm sorry! But think about it! This just doesn't help me, it helps you!" I stayed there silently so Peeta continued. "Also…I wasn't lying. I think I may like you."

"Really?" I asked quietly. I heard him walking up to me and I stood up. He didn't need to answer because he leaned in and kissed me.

"Madge!" I came back into reality as Cinna told me we're at the arena. I was lead into a launch room, which we call the stock houses, waiting for my death. "You should take a shower." So, I followed Cinna's instructions and took a shower. As the water pored on me I thought about last night.

Rain started to drizzle down as I pushed him away from me. "No, Peeta we can't" A hurt look washed over his face.

"Why not?" I sighed.

"Because, tomorrow we're going to have to kill each other." I said as he brushed my hair out of my face.

"Well that's a problem for us tomorrow." He said softly. "Let's have fun tonight." He kissed me and I kissed him back. For a few hours we played games, talked, and well kissed. At the end I said good-bye to him and kissed him one last time.

When I got out of the shower Cinna gave me my uniform for the games. It was a green blouse, leather jacket, flannels pants, and lace a boots. As I put it on, Cinna told me what he thinks the arena will be like. "It will be cold nights and hot days. You can tell because of the jacket and the wool socks." I nodded and sat down next to him. He handed me a glass of water and I took tiny nervous sips of it. "Nervous?" He asked and I nodded.

"I don't want to die Cinna." I said like a kid. He hugged me tight.

"You won't. _You're_ the one the other tributes should be afraid of. _You_ got a twelve and _you're _the lava girl. Think about it, lava is one of the most powerful things on the earth. That's what you are. Madge, if I could bet, I would bet on you." I smiled at him.

"Really?" He smiled and nodded.

"Really." He fumbled in his pocket and handed me my Mockingjay pin. "Here" I almost forgot about the pin my mother gave me. I thanked him and pinned it on.

"Tributes please step onto the launch pads." I stood up and stepped on it. A glass plate went between Cinna and I. He waved good-bye as I went up. There was darkness for a few seconds until I rose up out of the ground. I smelled an initial wave of pine trees. I could hear water running somewhere and birds chirping. The voice of the Hunger Games announcer went over the arena and he announce.

"Ladies and Gentlemen let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!" We had sixty seconds before we got step of the plates. If we stepped off landmines would blow off our legs. I looked around and locked eyes with Cato who smiled and I smiled back. He stood three tributes away from me. Clove was right next to me. _Wow, I guess the game makers can't wait until we have a fight. _

Peeta was directly opposite away from me. I looked into his eyes and he looked into mine. There was some sort of connection between us that I could tell what he was thinking, and he could tell what I was. I gave him a sad look that showed him I was sorry we couldn't be together. He nodded at me and smiled and I smiled back. I snapped back into reality when the gong rang.

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><p><strong>AH! The games next chapter! :D :D :D So...like I said before some things I wanted to keep and other things I changed ;) Don't worry the help the story come up. And just to tell you all I am making a sequel to this but I can't tell you what it's called or you'll know the ending :) :) :) :) I think I may update tomorrow Idk. Lets hope I do. But...if I get an email about an alert, fav, or comment I might put up another one quicker ;) ;) ;)<strong>

**Oh, I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES! (just thought i should say that)**

**Also R.I.P Whitney Houston :'( **

**I LUV PEETA **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't upload quicker! Thanks for commenting though! :D **

**Ahh! We're starting the games! :D :D :D Oh and we're halfway done with the story! Funny how that worked out ;)**

**Ok, so did anyone see the Safe and Sound Music video? I love it! I think Taylor is Madge. There are some funny simularities thar. So I have another HG fanfic idea but right now it's only a paragraph long :/ I may start it but I won't until i'm finished with Stay Strong.**

**I LUV PEETA**

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><p>Stay Strong Chapter Nine<p>

I ran into the Cornucopia and grabbed a pack of knifes. Clove looked at me and growled. "Those are _mine_ lava girl."

"Really? Then why do I have it?" I said into a mocking tone. She gave a frustrated scream and grabbed a single knife. The boy from District Nine was grabbing a pack so I took out a knife and threw it into his back. He dropped down dead. I had no time to think about what I had done because I had to survive. I took out the knife and looked for my next kill.

"Ok, so how many are dead all together?" Cato asked surveying the area. I started to count the dead bodies that laid around the Cornucopia.

"Nine." Marco said as he looked around. I saddened as I saw Kalayia's dead body on the ground.

"What happened to Kalayia?" I asked looking at her. Cato shrugged. I looked at the bodies on the ground. I noticed that Rue, Peeta, Thresh, Maria, and the cripple boy from Distrcit Ten had survived the bloodbath. I picked up an apple off the ground and took a bite out of it.

"Hey! Lava girl! No eating the food without permission!" Clove snapped. I sneered at her.

"Permission, from who? You?" I walked up to her. "Remember Clove, right when I don't think you're useful to me anymore…you're dead." I took a huge bite of the apple and sat down leaning against the Cornucopia. "So, are we going to go hunting or what?" I asked.

"Yeah, um Glimmer and Marco you watch the camp. Um Madge and Marvel can go to the left and Clove and I will go to the right." I nodded and got my knifes ready. As we headed off Marvel started a conversation.

"So…are you into Peeta, that way?" _Great way to start a conversation Marvel. _I thought.

"Let's just focus on hunting ok?" I snapped. We walked for about an hour until I heard a twig snap. I put a finger over Marvel's mouth and pointed in front of us. I took out a knife and busted through the bushes. A boy that was about thirteen gave me a terrified look.

"Wait! Don't kill me! I have a deal to make with you guys!" He shouted. I kept my knife up but didn't kill him.

"What kind of deal?" I asked suspiciously.

"You know how they have the land mines in the ground in the beginning of the games?"

"Yeah so?" Marvel cut in. I glared at him for talking.

"Well, I'm from District Three and I think I can make it so they turn on again so they can protect your supplies." I put my knife down and smiled. This kid is smart, get an in with the careers by using his smarts.

"Marvel take him back to camp, I'm going to do some hunting on my own." I ordered. Once Marvel and Jimmy, the boy from District Three, were away I paused. I have already killed three people today: the boy from five, the girl from six, and the boy from nine. I'm a horrible person. _Shut-up Madge, they have to die for you to win. Stay strong._ A cannon sounded which meant Cato and Clove had found someone. I walked until I heard a bag unzip. I looked through the bushed and saw little Rue sitting there.

I knew that any normal career would kill her on the spot, but I couldn't. She reminded me of Prim. I couldn't kill someone who is like the person I tried to save. I walked through the bushes and dropped my knife on the ground. She gave me a puzzled look. "I don't want to kill you." I said.

"But you're a career." She said, probably thinking this was a trap.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have to like killing people. And you remind me of someone…so I can't kill you." She seemed relieved. "But I'm here to warn you. Staying on the ground is to dangerous, go up in the trees; we won't look up there. Also, don't try to take anything from our camp; we're going to have it rigged with explosives. Stay safe Rue." I turned and walked back to our camp.

"What if when one goes off, they all go off?" Cato questioned Jimmy and we all gave him questionable stares.

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen." Jimmy reassured.

"It would be cool not having to need anyone to watch the camp." Marvel said. I murmured in agreement.

"You think we should do it Madge?" Cato asked. Personally I don't think it's a good idea, but when I leave the careers I can use it against them.

"Yeah I do." I said.

"Ok, then we'll do it." Cato declared. Clove looked angry he had asked me and not her. Jimmy looked relived. "But, if these things don't work by tomorrow morning, you're dead." Cato warned.

"Don't worry they'll work." Jimmy said and then went off to work. Cato looked at a watch we had and sighed.

"It's ten." I sighed in relief, but then quickly covered with a remorse face.

"I guess we have to sleep now." I muttered. Cato nodded and said he and Clove would take first watch. Before any of us could go to sleep the anthem blared and we all looked up. It showed the faces of the girl from District Three, Kalayia, the boy from five, both from six, the girl from seven, the boy from eight, and the girls from Nine and Ten. I thanked god that Peeta was not one of those faces. I looked over at the others who looked pleased at our work.

I suddenly realized how cold it was and went into a tent. It had a sleeping bag and a lantern in it. I started to go to sleep when I heard Cato and Clove whispering. "Why did you let her in?" Clove whispered.

"Wait one second." He whispered. "Madge! You awake?" He said loudly. I didn't respond. "Ok, she's asleep. Well, she's our biggest threat and with her on our side, we can use her and kill her with ease. Plus she and Glimmer are so nice eye-candy." I could just see Clove scowling at that comment. I bet all of the cameras were glued on me right now. I cleared a piece of the ground in my tent and grabbed a knife and started drawing. I drew a picture of every single one of the careers and put a big "X" through them. Over it I wrote out, _Attack Plan_.

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><p><strong>Yeah that's right careers Madge won't be screwed around with! ;D So what do you guys think? Madge now knows Cato's true intentions! :O <strong>

**So...I won't make any promises about the next time I'll upload...it will probably not be this weekend. Sorry I have a rlly busy weekend this and next. so, I'll try to update a lot during the week. So...I'll say the usually jiff (haha i have no clue what that means) plz alert, fav, and comment! :) I just want to thank everyone that has it means a lot to me! :)**

**I LUV PEETA**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to update, family things. Here is another chapter! :)**

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><p>Stay Strong Chapter Ten<p>

The next two days were un-eventful. Glimmer killed the girl from District Eight with a bow and arrow, after ten tries. Clove and I keep butting heads, but she backs down easily. I guess she thinks that she'll be the one to kill me, but that's the exact opposite. _I _will_ kill Clove. Actually I will kill all of the careers. _I promised to myself. Right now I was leaning against a tree pretending to take a nap.

Ever sense that night two days ago I've been pretending to sleep a lot, finding out information. Usually I just hear them talking about how many kills they've gotten. But this time was different. "So, what are we going to do about the other tributes?" Marvel asked.

"Well the only ones we really need to worry about are Lover boy, Thresh, and Madge." Clove said with a mouthful of food.

"What about Foxface?" Glimmer asked, sounding serious.

"Yeah I guess her to." Cato said. I tried to keep my breaths as steady as possible as I sat against the tree. "Well once we find Foxface we can easily kill her." It irritated me that they gave us nicknames like we were pets. "Lover boy will be more difficult, but we'll still be able to get him." I felt like standing up and ringing Cato's neck right now.

"What about Thresh?" Marco asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Cato asked. "He's an idiot, so we just trick him some kind of trap and kill him."

"So onto Lava girl." Clove sighed. I pictured in my mind the smug look on Clove's face.

"Do we have to kill her?" I heard Marco's voice asking timidly.

"Yes!" They all snapped at once. It's nice to know they all want me dead.

"As I was saying, what about Lava girl?" Clove snapped. I could tell she was eager to put a knife in my heart.

"Use her as long as we can then kill her off." Cato said, very matter of fact.

"Tell me we're going to give the audience a show?" Clove begged.

"Of course Clove." He said warmly. Fear rose through me. I knew I would not be getting any sleep at night until I leave the careers. But I knew I couldn't leave them, it's only been two days into the games. _Note to self; sleep with a knife at night. _"Ok, might as well wake her up and start hunting again." Cato sighed. I braced myself to act as clueless as ever.

We walked through the woods for thirty minutes until we found the boy from District Seven. When he saw us he started to run but the was stopped by running into Marvel. "Oh, please don't run! I _really_ want to play." Marvel teased him.

"I was going to make it quick, but I think I need to teach you how _fun_ it is to play with us." Glimmer purred. I really didn't want to do this. For the other children I murdered the one thing that kept me sane was that their death wasn't painful, but torturing someone is different. But this is the Hunger Games, and I'm in the careers so I have to do this. I took a deep breath and turned off my humanity.

The next few hours were horrible. At first Glimmer, Clove, and I chopped off each of his fingers. His cries of pain were horrifying and made me want to throw up. After that Marco, Marvel, and Cato worked away at his legs and arms. I was very surprised that he had survived this long with all the blood he had lost. But he did look horrible. His face was colorless and his chest was moving so fast, it seemed like he was vibrating. "Guys, I'm so _bored_!" I moaned. "Let's just kill him and find another _toy_."

I truthfully just wanted to kill him and end this nightmare. "Sure, he's all yours." Cato smiled. He threw the knife at me, probably trying to kill me, but thankfully I stepped to the side and it landed in a tree. I could see his eyes flash with worry. I noticed how no one pounced on me, so I decided to play it off like I'm dumb.

"Whoa Cato, almost got me there." I laughed and pulled the knife out of the tree. I knelt down; right before I did I gave him a face that meant I'm sorry. He nodded slightly. Then I slit his throat. He made a weird gurgling sound and then his cannon sounded. "Ok, so lets keep hunting." I chirped and we kept walking. We kept walking and soon the rest of the group was in front except for Cato and I.

"That was pretty close back there right?" he said nervously.

"Yeah." I said aggravated.

"Okay…" He said with his voice dragging out. The rest of the night was completely boring, so we went back to camp. When I was walking Marvel ran up to me and smiled.

"So, Madge, sense nothing is happening with you and Peeta… do you want to…" Marvel trailed off.

"What?" I snapped.

"Come back to my tent and well, you know." He said shakily. I felt like barfing. _Gross, Marvel wants to hook up. _

"Sorry Marvel, but no. I don't really like you that way." I was trying to be as nice as possible considering we were in the Hunger Games. I started to walk back but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Come on Madge, just give me a chance." I could tell he wasn't going to take no for an answer. I jabbed my elbow into his stomach and shoved him off of me.

"When a girl says no Marvel, it means no. So next time you ignore me, I'll cut off your…well, you get the point." Marvel looked horrified and scrambled back to his tent. I smiled at the trees, where I knew some kind of camera was zooming in on me, and walked back to my tent. When I got in I sat down a tried to go to sleep. I think I tried for two hours but I couldn't do it, so I sat up and tried to think about happy things. But before I could something terrifying happened.

"Hey." I heard Cato say in a hushed voice outside of my tent.

"Hey." I heard Clove say happily. "So…I have a question."

"Yes Clove? What is it?" He asked like he really cared. _He couldn't…no, that's not possible. _

"Do you like Madge?" She asked quietly.

"Defiantly not." He said right away. I just _love_ to hear how much Cato hates me. They got quiet so I decided to unzip my tent a little bit just to see what was going on and when I looked back I felt like puking when I saw them making out. I fell backwards and sat there in shock. For the rest of the night they continued to kiss…and do…other things. Well of course now I was never going to get any sleep so I tried to think about Peeta.

_Peeta, I know you can't hear me but I have to tell you something. I love you. I wish so bad that we weren't in this situation and I could tell you this. I could tell you that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. But I can't and when it comes down to it…I know I could never kill you. _Now, what happened next was probably dew to my lack of sleep but I could have sworn I heard Peeta in my mind. _I love you to Madge don't ever forget that. _I felt so alone knowing that Peeta was out there, somewhere, and I couldn't find him.

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><p><strong>:( Sad. Very sad. So...what do you guys think? Like it? Then reviewsub/fav! :) Ok, so i prob won't be able to update for a little while again cause I have more family things. Sorry XD. **

**I LUV PEETA**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to update but like a said, family issues. Thankfully those are over so I'm back to you guys! :D Ok, so I'm writing the sequal and I'm having major writer's block :( Also I made a mistake there are 17 chapters in Stay Strong, not 18. **

**OMG 10 MORE DAYS TIL THE HUNGER GAMES COMES OUT :D Has everyone seen the clips and new trailers? Like the one of Peeta's interview? My heart melted :3 So...A LOT happens in this chapter so...yeah. **

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Stay Strong Chapter Eleven<p>

"No!" I yelled as I woke up. I looked up and saw Marvel standing over me. I took a deep breath in and tried to collect myself. I must have had another nightmare about who knows what. Ever sense what happened with Cato and Clove one more person had died, but I'm not sure whom. I shook it off and looked at Marvel.

"Whoa Madge, calm down. It's you're turn to watch." I got up and rubbed my eyes.

"Who's with me?" I asked.

"Glimmer." I sighed.

"Of course." I grumbled. I got out of my tent and put on a jacket. Glimmer stood there and waved me over to her. _Brace yourself Madge. _I urged myself. "Hey." I said as I sat down.

"Hey!" She squealed. "I'm so excited!"

"Why?" I asked already regretting asking.

"Because I got a kill today! You should have seen the look on their face, it was so funny!" She said like she was buying shoes. That's the thing about Glimmer, I can handle her just being an airhead, but she's an airhead who loves killing people. She's as bloodthirsty as Cato.

"Yeah, cool." I said quietly.

"So… Peeta likes you." She trailed off.

"Can we talk about that?" I asked irritated.

"Are you into Peeta." _Don't do it Madge, don't do it. _ I did it. I punched Glimmer in the mouth. She gave me a shocked look and then gritted her teeth. "Why did you do that?" She screamed. I looked over and saw the others were waking up.

"Because you know I _don't_ want to talk about him and yet you talk about him!" I yelled standing up. She stood up and growled.

"That's no reason to punch me." By now everyone was up and was watching.

"Also, you annoy the crap out of me, so yeah." I said matter of factly.

"That's it!" She lunged at me and knocked me to the ground. She clawed at my face and I kicked her off of me. This is my chance I can walk away, but look week. But I really want to beat up Glimmer. I turned around and kicked Glimmer's ribs.

"Should I break it up?" Cato asked.

"No!" Marvel, Marco, and Jimmy said at the same time. _Perverts. _I smiled and jumped on top of Glimmer. I punched her in the face and saw blood coming out of her mouth. I punched her again and then she got enough force to flip us around so that she was on top of me. She scratched at my face and I could feel the blood that was being drawn. I threw Glimmer off of me and she ran into Marco. A cannon fired and I looked over to see Marco with a knife in his back.

"Oh my god." I whispered getting up. When I pushed Glimmer off of me she had ran into Marco. He had fallen down into a knife. All eyes turned to me. _Crap, they're going to kill me. _I saw Clove reaching for her knife but Cato gave her a look and she put it away.

"Well, he was a liability anyway, better now than later." I said quickly. Glimmer glared at me and I returned the gesture. "I say it's time to go hunting." I picked up my knifes and started on the hunt.

It was awkward walking with the others because I could tell all of them wanted me dead. I was at the end of the line on this alliance. This may even be my last night as a career. Wait, this is my _last_ night of being a career! I smiled crept on to my face and I did a small little skip of joy. Once I'm done with the careers, what should I do? Well, I know that: take them down. But I need someone else's help, but who? _Peeta?_ No, I can't that would be too hard for me. _Maria? Thresh?_ No, neither of them seem like they want to be in an alliance. Then it hit me, a crazy thought that would probably get me killed. _Rue! She would be perfect!_

So that night I decided I would get Rue as an ally. As we were walking I heard a twig snap. We walked towards the sound and busted through the bushes.

Standing within inches of me was Peeta. Cato, Clove, and Glimmer smiled wickedly. "Well, well, well." Cato said circling Peeta. Clove and Glimmer did they same so they were surrounding him. Glimmer kicked his knees so he fell to the ground, making Peeta cry out in pain. I flinched, which was a big mistake, because they saw me.

"What's wrong Madge?" Clove said mockingly.

"Nothing." I muttered keeping my eyes down.

"Really? Well, ok. So I'm going to ask you something, and this time don't punch me when you do." Glimmer purred. "Do. You. Like. Peeta." She said slowly.

"No." I said quietly. Glimmer smirked.

"Cool. So you won't mind if I do this?" Clove asked while taking out a knife. Before I could stop her she stabbed Peeta in the leg.

"No!" I yelled and took out a knife. I grabbed Marvel and put the knife to his throat. "We'll do a trade, you give me Peeta and I'll give you Marvel." I said slowly.

"Kill him, I don't care." Cato sneered. I grabbed Marvel's arm and used a technique my father had taught me and broke his arm. Everyone's eye's widened with shock as Marvel cried out in pain. "I told you I don't care about him." Cato said, but I could tell he was a little scared.

"Ok." I dropped him on the ground and slowly took out a knife and hit it behind my back. "How about her?" I threw the knife at Clove but she moved so it only hit her shoulder. Still, she cried out in pain and dropped to the ground. I took out another knife and hit Glimmer in the heart. Her cannon sounded. Cato realized now that all of his allies couldn't help him he gave up. He shoved Peeta to me and gave me a death stare.

"Take him. But you just made a huge mistake. I was going to kill you quick, but now I'm going to make it as slow and painful as possible." With that he went to care for Clove, and Peeta and I ran off. I could tell that he was in pain because he had a slight limp. Once we were far away we stopped.

"Thanks." He breathed. I panted, but managed to get out.

"You're welcome." After that we ran some more until Peeta collapsed. "I think we're good." I said quietly. I looked where we were and thanked god. "Come over here." I lead him through the brush and he gasped as he saw a stream running through the ground with a cave over it. On the ground were a tent, a sleeping bag, and a container for water.

"What is this?" He asked amazed.

"I knew eventually I was going to leave the careers, so when I went hunting once, I ditched Marco and set up this. I just told them I thought I found a tribute." Peeta nodded in approval then looked at his leg. "Are you ok?" I asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." He reassured. "So, are we allies now?" He asked.

"No Peeta I just risked my life for you because I want to kill you myself." I said sarcastically. I knew I wasn't going to be allies with him but, after seeing him I couldn't leave. I went over to him and kissed him. I knew it was a bad idea and I would regret it later, but I needed to kiss him. He pushed me away.

"Are you sure? Only one of us can win." He said wearily.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He kissed me and smiled.

"Hello?" I heard a tiny voice behind us. I turned around to see Rue standing there with a plant in her hand.

"Rue?" She walked over to Peeta and looked at his leg.

"I can stop the infection with this." I didn't say anything as Rue got the plant and chewed it in her mouth. She spit it in her hand and I nearly puked. It was white with yellow dots in it and smelled like horse crap. She rubbed it where he was stabbed and I saw instant relief wash over his face.

"Oh my god thanks Rue." She smiled and looked up at me.

"Rue, do you want to join our alliance." Her face lite up and she looked at Peeta who nodded encouragingly.

"Sure!" She squealed and hugged me. I hugged her back and looked at Peeta. I mouthed, _Are you ok?_ He nooded.

"Ok, I have a plan guys."

"What?" they both asked.

"Rue, remember how I told you the careers put mines around their camp?" She nodded. "Well, I think this is the perfect opportunity to do the Hunger Games some justice." I said.

"What do you mean?" Peeta asked while a smiled crept up his face.

"Well, it _is_ the Hunger Games." I said slyly.

"But Madge, they're not hungry." Rue argued.

"Now, that's just not fair Rue, now is it?"

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><p><strong>Fimiliar? Eh? Eh? Ok, so in this chapter tensions were rising with the careers and madge and madge formed a new alliance! :)<strong>

**What was that? A summary? Whateva. So plz review/alert*hey someone did just now ;)*/ favorite! **

**I rlly want as many people as possible to see this story! **

**I LUV PEETA**


	12. Chapter 12

**OMG I'M SOOOOO SORRY! I LOOKED AT THE STORY TODAY AND I REALIZED HOW LONG IT HAD BEEN SENSE I'VE UPLOADED! I've been working on a HUGE project for the last few weeks...**

**Ok, so did u guys c the HG movie? I LOVED IT! Sure, they cut out Madge but at least buttercup is still in it! :D Oh and I got over my writers block by changing part of the plot line for the second book...it just wasn't working the way I had made it. **

**I LUV PEETA**

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><p>Stay Strong Chapter Twelve<p>

For the next three days we planned, ate, and slept. At night we all shared a sleeping bag together. You would think it would be crowded but it made me feel safe having them there to comfort me. During the days no one had died, so I knew we had to carryout the plan that day or there would be a game maker trap. We all walked together until we had to go separate ways. We went over the plan one last time and I kissed Peeta good-bye. "I love you." I mumbled into his shoulder.

"I love you to." He said and I took one last look at the two people I cared so much about and walked away. As they walked away I had the sinking feeling one of them would not be coming back. I walked through the woods, telling myself over and over what I was about to do. _You're going to destroy the careers camp. You'll activate the land mines to do that. Rue and Peeta will make noise to draw the careers away from the camp. When that happens you'll use your knifes to somehow set them off. After that we'll hunt down the careers and kill them. _

Once I had gotten to the camp I made sure no one was there and then got to work. My eye's darted around the camp until I saw a bag of apples. I threw one knife and it made a small hole in the bag. I took another knife and threw it to make the hole bigger. I looked over and saw Maria standing watching me. I mouthed, _run_, and she nodded and darted away. I took out the last knife and threw it.

It ripped a large hole in the bag and the apples pored out over the ground. I instinctively covered my hands over my ears as I was shot back by the explosion. Instantly I felt great pain in my legs. I looked down and saw that my left leg was hurt. I hazily looked around and crawled into the bushes. I praised myself for covering my ears because they seemed unharmed. If I hadn't done that I would have gone def.

I peered through the bushes and saw Cato, Clove, Marvel, and Jimmy come out. Cato's face turned bright red and he screamed looking at his supplies, well the ashes of them. Marvel and Clove kicked around trying to see if any of the supplies were left. Clove said something that seemed to calm Cato down a little but then he turned angry again. He turned on Jimmy and broke his neck. I should have felt sad that he died but I just felt hollow.

I looked at my leg and sighed. The bleeding had slowed down, but it still looked bad. I ripped off a piece of my shirt and tied it around my leg. I tried to get up, but it was useless, I wouldn't be able to get up until at least the next day. I sighed and just prayed Cato wouldn't find me. I was surprised to see the careers weren't hunting until I realized they probably thought that who ever set off the mines died. That night when the anthem played the only face that came up was Jimmy's. That means that the careers now know that who ever set off the mines is still alive. The hunt is on.

While in the bush I fell into a fitful sleep. I had dreams about Clove killing Rue, Marvel killing Peeta, and Cato torturing me. When I woke up my leg felt stiff, but I thought I could walk on it. When I got up sharp pain shot up my leg, but I definitely could walk. I grabbed my remaining knifes and tried to find one of my allies. I walked for hours until I heard a whistle. A whistle Rue taught us to show that we're all right. I looked up to see a Mockingjay whistling it.

I smiled and started to look for her. "Madge!" Rue screamed from somewhere in the distance. "Madge! Help!"

"Rue!" I screamed running in her direction. "I'm coming!" I knew this was a trap, but I didn't care, I needed to save Rue. I ran into a clearing and saw Rue's foot trapped in a bear trap. She didn't even have time to call out for me to help her because a knife entered her abdomen. She fell to the ground and curled up into the fetal position. I looked over and saw Clove standing there.

"Whoops! Was she _you're _allies with her? Wow, you've gone down hill." She sneered.

"Did you like my present? I'm sorry about you're pretty little supplies." I cooed. I tired to keep it together but I could feel tears in my eyes. Clove stopped with the toying and charged at me. I guess she thought I had no weapons because my knifes were hidden under my jacket. I took out my knife and stabbed her in the heart. She fell to the ground and her cannon sounded. That's the end of Clove. I turned to Rue and felt my heart drop. Her foot was a bloody mess but I could see the bone sticking out. Then I looked up. The knife must have hit something vital because there was blood everywhere.

"You blew up the supplies?" I kneeled down and nodded, not able to speak. "Good." She said quietly.

"It's going to be ok." I said through my tears.

"Don't lie to me." She snapped. "I'm going to die." She said, defeated. I couldn't fight with her; we both knew it was true.

"You know, my mother used to tell me what heaven is like."

"How would she know?" She mumbled.

"My aunt, Maisley Donner, visits her in dreams." Rue gripped my hand as I told her about heaven. "Everyone's heaven is different. _Your_ heaven will be at your favorite place." I looked down at Rue, whose eyes were closed now but her chest was still moving up and down. More tears escaped my eyes as I went on. "There's no pain or sadness. Only happiness, and everyone you ever loved who died is there with you. It's amazing. There's no Hunger Games, no fighting, just happy. If only the world could have been like that for you Rue. Oh, Rue." I could tell Rue was still hanging by a thread to life. "Go there Rue, it's a wonderful place. I'll be ok. Tell Maisley I say hi."

"Win, Madge." Rue mumbled and then her cannon sounded. I started crying over her and kissed her. I knew I needed to clear out so the hovercraft could pick her up, but I couldn't. I couldn't leave her like that, an animal killed in these horrible games. I looked around and found them. A grove a rue flowers on the ground. They were in full bloom and seemed as delicate as Rue. I picked them up and walked back to Rue. I sat them down next to Rue and gave a weak smile.

"Rue, I'm sorry you didn't get to live the life you should have. But let me tell you this, for the rest of my life, I'll remember you. And I will win, for you Rue." I pressed my three middle fingers against my lips and held them out. "Good-bye Rue." I murmured and turned around. As I walked away I took one last look at her as the hovercraft carried her away.

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><p><strong>Not going to lie...i cried while writing this, editing this, and reading this right now. I was playing licolon park while watching this...god. so sad! <strong>

**I HATE THE CAPITAL.**

**Anyway, funny how the death of Clove was so quick eh? I was thinking "SOMETIMES THERE ISN'T ALWAYS THE BIG BATTLE" so yeah. Clove actually makes another apperance in this story..."HOW?" You ask...well you'll have to wait to find out...**

**Saddest chapter yet *but maybe not THE saddest chapter... :,(***

**Review, subricribe/alert, fav**

**I LUV PEETA**


	13. Chapter 13

**heyy! I thanks for the reviews! Short chapter...sorry! I think this may be the second to last chapter of the games...just a reminder there will be a sequal to this. Sorry if at the part where Peeta tells the story if it gets a little corny...**

**I LUV PEETA**

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><p>Stay Strong Chapter Thirteen<p>

I walked for hours until I found Peeta. I ran into his arms and started crying. "What's wrong?" He asked his eyes clouded with worry.

"It's Rue." I managed to get out until I started balling my eyes out again.

"Oh god. What happened Madge?" I tried to speak but tears overcame me. He calmed me down and took me back to the cave. He helped me into my sleeping bag and kissed my forehead. "Can you tell me now?" I shook my head and he sighed and kissed me. "Ok, so what do you want to talk about?" I grinned and sat up and looked him in the eye.

"Who was your first kiss?" He laughed.

"You _really_ want to know?"

"Yes! Yes! Please, please, please tell me!"

"Fine, I'll tell you!" I squealed in excitement and rested my head on his lap. He stroked my hair and told me about his first kiss. "Well, it was in eighth grade and I was at a party." Peeta was very popular in District Twelve and always was at those kinds of parties. He's a lot more self-confident than me. The only time I'm confident is when I'm the "games Madge". "And we started playing spin the bottle."

"Oh _come on_!" I laughed. "Please tell me your first kiss wasn't while playing spin the bottle!"

"Yes it was!" I burst into laughter.

"Who was it?" He eyed me and then muttered.

"Sarah Maria." I smiled. Sarah was the most popular girl in the school. His face went serious and he looked at me. "Now, can you please tell me what happened with Rue?" Reluctantly I told him everything that happened with Rue. By the end he had tears in his eyes but you could still see the pity in his eyes and he looked at me. "Oh my god Madge, are you ok?"

"Of course not." I snapped. I stood up and walked out of the cave. I realize it was nighttime and that the faces of the dead were probably going to come up soon. It was raining but it felt like ice was being shot at me. I felt Peeta's hands rap around me and he put his head on my shoulder. I pushed his hands off of me and turned to face him.

"Madge! It was just a question!" Peeta said angrily. I got so angry I felt like fire was pumping through my veins.

"But it's not Peeta! It's not ok; it's never going to be ok again. Can't you see it? We're _never _going to be able to be together! That's the rules right? There can be only _one_ winner! You might as well just kill me now, because I can't kill you." My voice softened and I sat down on the ground. "Do you see Haymitch or Chaff drinking away all of sorrows; or Finnick sleeping with any girl he can see, or Annie being as mad as the Hunger Games? I don't want that life Peeta." Before Peeta could say anything the anthem blared and I looked up at the sky.

First Clove's face glared down at us and I heard a furious scream rise up over the rain. _Cato is now probably going insane right now, _I thought. The Rue's angle face came up after hers. I burst into tears and collapsed on the ground. "Peeta, kill me." I sobbed. "Please, please kill me."

"I can't." he muttered.

"Why?" I moaned as rain pored on my face.

"I loved Rue. And you promised her you would win, so you are going to win." He said forcefully. I realized what he meant. He was going to protect me until we were the last two, then he would kill himself. I looked at him with horror and shook my head.

"No, no, no Peeta, you can't do that." I muttered as I put my hands over my and shook on the ground.

"It's ok, Madge. Lets go inside, you're going to get sick if you stay out here." I nodded numbly and we walked into the cave. When we walked in he helped me get into our sleeping bag. He kissed my forehead and urged me to go to sleep. I looked him in the eyes one more time and then drifted off into sleep.

_Peeta's dead body lay in front of my feet. "No! Oh god Peeta, no!" I screamed and dropped to the ground. Peeta morphed into Josh. "Josh?" I screamed. Then Josh morphed into my mom, my dad, Katniss, Prim, Effie, Haymitch, Cinna, and everyone I loved. I kept screaming at them that I love them, until I was on the ground dead. I looked at my dead body, so confused until my body's eyes opened. "This is your life now Madge, you lost all of us." I said, but my voice wasn't just my voice it was all the voices of the people I saw. Then my body took out a knife and stabbed me right in the heart. _

My eyes bolted open and I took a deep breath in. Peeta must have fallen asleep while keeping watch. I crawled over to him and I kissed him. He opened his eyes and smiled. "Hey Peeta." I mumbled. "I love you." I said and smiled. He looked and me and smiled.

"I love you to Katniss."

* * *

><p><strong>Oh no! Whats ganna happen? Peeta made a big mistake. Madge and Peeta r starting to seem like a real couple eh...?<strong>

**Please fav, alert, and review!**

**I LUV PEETA**


	14. Chapter 14

"What did you say?" I said angrily. Peeta's eyes snapped open and he must have realized the mistake he had made.

"Oh my god Madge, I didn't mean to-"

"You said Katniss." I said numbly.

"Yes, but-"

"_You_ said Katniss!" I stood up and started taking some of the supplies. "I'm leaving."

"Madge come on!" He argued. Tears were streaming down my face as I pushed Peeta away from me.

"Peeta this is exactly what I was saying! I cannot be dealing relationship troubles when I'm in the Hunger Games!" My voice softened as I picked up the last of my things and shoved them into a bag. "Peeta we can't do this anymore. I love you, but we just can't." I kissed him one last time and walked out of the cave. Once I was out of the cave I started running into the forest trying to run away from my boy troubles. I ran for hours and hours until I couldn't run any longer. I sat down next to a tree and tried to do busy tasks.

First I set up traps from when that one time Katniss tried to show me how to hunt. After a few hours of trying to teach me how to hunt she declared I was as hopeless as Prim. But I had picked up a few tricks and set up a few snares. After I had started to set up the snares I started to pick a few berries. I was about to put the juicy black berry in my mouth when a voice came up behind me. "Don't! Those are nightlock!" I immediately recognized the name and threw the berry out of my hand. I swung around to see Maria standing there.

"Why tell me?" I asked, picking up my knife. She sighed and fell to the ground.

"Because you need to give those to me." My mouth literally dropped open out of pure shock. Maria went into a crazy coughing fit and a little bit of blood came dripping from her mouth.

"What happened to you?" I asked starting to come close to her.

"Don't come close to me. I drank some water and I guess it was poisoned, because ever sense then I've been…I've been slowly dying. I just want to get it over with, Madge. Can you please give me the nightlock?" She seemed so desperate so I nodded numbly and handed it to her. She put the nightlock in her mouth and swallowed it. I held her in my arms and whispered her last wish in my ears. "Don't let them win." I nodded even though I didn't know what she meant. Maria went into a series of spasms in my arms and had three or four small seizers. Finally her cannon sounded and Maria was put out of her misery.

A single tear rolled down my cheek as I looked at Maria. I closed Maria's eyes and looked at the berries next to Maria. I squeezed the juice out and started to decorate her face. I used the juice as if it was make-up and made her look cold and powerful. Once I was done I stood up and looked at her. "How is this good? How is this going to help anyone out here?" A cutting harshness was coming into my voice. "All of this hate and death in the world, how does it makes things better. I'm done." I sat down and started crying. I'm just done with these games. For the next few hours I sat there until Cato stumbled upon me.

"Why hello there little miss lover girl." He said mockingly. I didn't move or anything as he started to torture me.

_"Madge." A small voice called to me. I kept my head down and kept crying. _

"_Go away._

"_Madge wake up." An older voice said to me. I still kept my head down and cried even more._

"_Please stop. _

"_Oh for Pete's sake, Madge get your stop acting like a little cry baby and look at us!" My head snapped up as I noticed whose voice's these were. Rue, Maria, and Clove stood there looking at me. Well, Clove was sneering at me. I scooted backwards in shock _

_ "W-w-what are you guys doing here? Y-you're…you're" I trailed off. _

_ "Dead. We're dead…all because of you." Clove said ominously. _

_ "Clove, be nice." Rue ordered. It was funny to see tiny little Rue ordering a huge girl like Clove around. As Rue and Clove started bickering I noticed what they were wearing: Rue was wearing a beautiful purple dress that was woven out of the flowers I laid next to her when she died with her hair let down, Clove was wearing a black dress that had knifes woven within it, and Maria wore a white dress that had the designs painted onto it with the dark juice of the nightlock berries. _

_ "Madge!" Clove barked. I snapped back into reality._

_ "What?" I said drowsily. _

_ "We need to tell you something." Maria said sweetly. "You can't give up." She smiled and put her hand on my shoulder. "I just want to thank you for what you did to me. If I had stumbled upon the careers, it wouldn't have been so easy." Clove looked uncomfortable which surprised me. "You are and forever will be my savior. And you made me seem human, thank you." She kissed me on the cheek and faded away. _

_ "Madge, you know I love you. You will always be part of my family in my eyes; you made me happy in these games. These horrible games that tare families apart. Kill their children are killed for what? To make a point?" Rue said. "Madge, don't you ever blame yourself for what happened to me, or Clove. Isn't she what we are victims of the Capital? Learn to forgive Madge, and find the real enemy." I nodded numbly as she hugged me tight. "Good-bye Madge." She to faded away and that left me and Clove. _

_ "Listen I'm not good with long speeches so I'm going to talk fast." _

_ "Ok." I said alertly. _

_ "I'm not mad that you killed me. I was going to do the same. So do not blame yourself for my horrible actions to kill that little girl." I tear slid down her cheek and something amazing happened. The knifes on her dress slid off and the black fabric melted off and unearthed a beautiful white silk gown. Clove looked down in amazement at the dress but then snapped her head at me. "Bu, you can't just let them die in vain. You can let me die in vain; I may deserve it, but think about Rue and Maria. You promised Rue and it is what Maria wants. Do not let them die in vain Madge. Fight: just keep fighting. Stay Strong, Madge." She to faded away and I was alone. _

I snapped out of my trance and looked around at my surroundings. I'm not sure if that was my imagination or if Rue, Maria, and Clove had visited me but I needed to work. Cato had started to slice off one of my fingers when I had woken up. It must have lasted only seconds. I looked around and saw another knife close to me. My finger hurt like crazy but I bit down the pain and wiggled out a leg. He just started to say what are you doing when I kneed him in his…weak spot. He cried out in pain and fell off me. Now the fun starts.

I grabbed the knife and faced Cato. He had gotten up and was now advancing on me. I didn't waste anytime and tackled him. Now, Cato is twice my size but I think I surprised him so he fell to the ground. I stabbed him and the stomach multiple times. I knew that he couldn't survive the stab wounds so I got off of him and sat down next to a tree and watch him. I should have felt happen that I had beat Cato but I felt nothing. "You must be so proud of yourself." Cato said with pain oozing out of his voice.

"Why would I be Cato?" I mumbled. I didn't really care anymore; the only reason I was still fighting was for Rue and Maria. He looked shocked as blood pored out of his body.

"You're not like us are you?" He said quietly.

"No, I hate killing people Cato. I hate killing people knowing their families will hate me forever and spit on my grave. I used to hate doing this, but I don't care anymore." I said defeated. "I'm sorry I had to kill you, I really don't want you to die but I have to keep fighting."

"Do you think I'm going to see Clove?" He asked.

"Yes I do. True love will never be stopped, not even by death." Cato nodded and closed his eyes. His cannon sounded and I sighed. I just killed Cato. _On to the next kill. _ **(END OF CHAPTER FIFTEEN) **

That night Cato and Maria's face came up in the sky. I suddenly realized I was in the final four. _How did I get to the final four?_ I tried to think about who was left and sighed. My mind drifted off and then I looked around me. Tall trees rose above me and I think I saw a lake in the back round. I looked down at myself and was surprised. I had a piece of fabric rapped around my finger and a bunch of cuts and bruises on my body. Dirt was all over my body and I wore a strange outfit. I had aunt Maisley's pin on and I was in shock. Mother never let me wear this. It almost seemed like I was in the Hunger…oh yeah I am.

"Madge don't drift off stay focused." I told myself. I could tell I was going insane. Even if I did win the games I wouldn't be the same. But I couldn't think about that right now, I had to focus. I thought really hard and realized I was the only girl left. I think it was Peeta, Thresh, Marvel, and I. I was surprised that Marvel had made it to the final four, but I guess I killed off the rest of the careers. Trumpets blared around the arena and the voice of Cladious Templesmith came after them.

"Hello the final four tributes! You may notice that the rivers are run dry and there are no more animals. It is time for a feast in the Hunger Games. At the Cornucopia is food and water. The food will be taken away when the sun goes down this evening. May the odds be ever in your favor." There was a burst of static and then the sound was gone. I sighed. Of course they were doing a feast. The Capital must be inpatient because…why would they be inpatient? Why would I care? Oh yeah, I'm in the Hunger Games. I sighed and packed up my knifes. I decided that I wouldn't kill Thresh because of Rue.

I couldn't admit to myself but deep down I knew I couldn't kill Peeta either. But Marvel, I didn't care about him. I walked towards the Cornucopia and tried to find my competitors. I saw Thresh coming out from a field. I guess that were he's been hiding in these…these…games, that's right. I saw a flash of blonde hair coming out of the forest. _Peeta._ I didn't waste any time and ran at the Cornucopia and started to grab some supplies.

Marvel ran in from the woods and was wearing body armor. I thought he was at first charging at me but he looked back like he was running from something. I looked a little bit past him and saw dog mutations running after him. My eye's widened and I started to climb up the Cornucopia. It was difficult but thankfully I made it up to the top of the Cornucopia. I noticed somehow Peeta had managed to get up on the Cornucopia with me and I smiled at him. He smiled back but then his frown dissolved as he looked at the mutations. "Madge…" He said his voice rising into a yell.

"What?" I asked turning around to see what the mutations really were. They were the dead tributes. They had the same hair color and the same eyes as them. Marvel had just barley made it up on the Cornucopia but Thresh wasn't so lucky. The dogs caught up with him and started tearing him apart. His scream rose through the air. "Oh my god that poor boy! Why are those dogs attacking him?" The two boys looked at me in shock like, I should know. I think one of them is the baker's son in District Twelve.

"Madge?" I looked the baker's son and his deep blue eyes and realized who he was.

"Sorry." I said and looked over at Marvel. He grabbed Peeta and put a knife to his neck. First off I took out a knife and threw it and killed Thresh. I couldn't bear to listen to him suffer anymore. I turned to Marvel and held my knife. "Let. Him. Go." I said in a strong voice.

"Sure." He said in a smug voice. He pushed Peeta off of the Cornucopia and I heard a sickening scream as Peeta fell to his death. I finally felt something.

"No!" I screamed and ran at Marvel. I tackled him and pinned him to the ground. "Say you're sorry." I said in a small voice.

"No." He smiled. I looked over and noticed a sward he had brought. I grabbed the sward and sliced off his head and it rolled off the Cornucopia. The mutation that represented Glimmer grabbed his head and ran into the forest. The other mutations followed her and ran off. I scooted off the Cornucopia and ran over to Peeta. One of his legs was clean off and I could barley make out his face.

"Peeta, oh Peeta." I said looking at him.

"I'm sorry. It's you I want Madge, not Katniss." He said. I shook my head and kissed him.

"It's ok Peeta. I love you so much. We're going to be ok." I said and kissed him again. His blood stuck to my face as I tried to kiss him again and again.

"Madge. I did what I wanted to do. I kept you safe and now you're going home."

"No Peeta. Not without you. I can't survive without you." I could see this hurt him but he looked me in the eyes.

"Madge, even if somehow you convinced them to let us both win, they couldn't save me. Keep fighting Madge, always. Never give up. And if you feel like you need to be with me, take this." He took out a piece of fabric and handed it to me. "It was my grandmother's. I love you Madge."

"I love you to."

"Then give me the nightlock." He pointed to nightlock I had stuffed in my pocket.

"No, Peeta I can't."

"Please. It hurt so badly. Please make it stop." He begged.

"Oh my god are you ok? What happened to you?" I asked. The poor boy had been torn apart and there was blood everywhere.

"Madge it's me-" The boy paused for a moment then smiled weakly. "Can you give me those berries in your pocket? They'll make me feel better." I nodded numbly and handed him the berries. "I love, don't ever forget that."

"What?" He plopped one of the berries in his mouth and smiled. I think I knew him. He was from District Twelve. Wait, that's Peeta. I tried to get him to spit it them out but it was to late. His was quicker than Maria's. He jerked his head to the side and died. Trumpets blared and Cladious Templesmith's voice declared.

"Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the victor of the Seventy-fourth Annual Hunger Games, the District Twelve female tribute, Madge Undersee!" **(END OF CHAPTER SIXTEEN)**

I'm in a white room. I ace a little bit but I don't see why I look fine. There is a plastic tube coming out of my arm and into a bag of purple liquid. I was in here because…because…oh yeah right I won. Just then a blue skinned doctor came in with Haymitch. I don't know why but my eye's started to water at the sight of Haymitch. Sure he didn't give me one sponsor gift throughout the entire games, but I didn't need any. Why wouldn't I need them? Everyone in the Hunger Games needs them unless you're with the…careers. "Hello Madge. How are you feeling today?" The doctor asked. His accent was very thick and was hard to understand.

"Ok. Can I see Peeta now?" I didn't want to be rude but I really wanted to see him. Tears showed up in both of their eyes. "What?"

"Uh, sweetheart, Peeta didn't make it. Remember him with the berries?" Haymitch asked me. I thought really hard and than I remembered. I remembered Peeta being maimed by the mutations and him begging me to give him the nightlock berries.

"Oh yeah." I said quietly. I tear rolled down my cheek but that was it. I was done crying. Haymitch whispered something in his ear and they both walked outside. I decided I wanted to know what they were talking about so I grabbed onto the pole that was giving me my medicine and used it as I way to walk. I put my ear to the door and heard a little bit of their conversation.

"I don't know. She seems very unstable." The doctor said. I had no idea what or who they were talking about but I'm guessing me.

"Will she do the interview?" Haymitch asked.

"Of course! This is the one year I get a winner and I won't miss out on the interview!" Effie's shrill voice argued.

"But what if she forgets what's going on?" Haymitch asked.

"I'm going to have to past victors talk to her about that." The doctor said. "Oh, here they are." My heart started racing as I rushed back to my bed. I heard a knock at the door and Haymitch walked in.

"Sweetheart I have two people here that would like to talk to you." Right away I recognized them: Annie Cresta and Finnick Odair both victors from District Four. Annie has been insane ever sense she left the games. I guess she's kind of like me. Maybe that's why she's here but why is Finnick here? Finnick is the most gorgeous man I've ever seen and is the personal sex toy of the Capital. I noticed the way he looked at her and understood. It's the way Peeta looked at me at the end of the games. He loves her and she loves him.

"Hello Madge." Finnick said and smiled.

"Hi Finnick. I'm sorry about your tributes. They were the only good careers." He nodded but then gave me an odd look.

"Not you?" I shook my head in disgust.

"I killed eleven kids in there! I killed almost half of the kids that entered the arena." I argued. He changed the subject and looked at Annie. She was playing with her hair looking at the wall when he tapped her shoulder.

"Annie, this is Madge. Do you remember seeing her in the games?"

"Yeah I remember." She said in an airy voice. "At first I thought you were mean, but then I realized you were nice. Oh, I'm sorry about Peeta. I thought this would be the year." She mumbled and went back to looking at the wall.

"What does she mean?" I asked.

"She thought they were going to let you both win." I gave him a dumbfounded look.

"My friend said something like that once. But that's not possible, they're the Capital." He nodded a little and walked outside with Haymitch. I looked over at Annie who was off in her own little world so I walked over to the door again and listened in.

"So what do you think?" Haymitch asked.

"Yeah, she's the one." I could tell they were about to start rambling when they both went quiet.

"What are you doing here?" Haymitch asked with an edge on his voice.

"That is between Miss. Undersee and him." Someone's voice said.

I ran back to my bed and looked at Annie. She sat the same way she did when I went to the door and still stared at the door. A Peace Keeper walked in and told Annie she had to leave the room.

"Why does Annie have to leave?" I asked apprehensively. The Peace Keeper ignored me and just escorted Annie out of the room. My heart was racing as I saw a man walk into the room. He reeked of blood and roses and I immediately recognized him. "President Snow." I said in amazement. I knew eventually I was going to meet him…but meeting him right now was just…weird. I've never seen him in a place that wasn't a stage. He gave me a wicked smile and sat at the end of my bed.

"Hello Miss. Undersee, congratulations on winning." I gave a small smile and mumbled.

"Thanks." He chuckled and looked at me.

"Miss. Undersee, you have many men in the Capital that admire you. They want to spend more time with you…and I know that you are a busy lady but next time you come up to the Capital…you will spend the night with them."

"You want me to be a prostitute." I murmured. He nodded and looked at me. "No. No. No!" I screamed. "I will not be your slave!"

"So no?" He said calmly. I gave him a cold glare and didn't say anything. He nodded and got up. "You will regret this Miss. Undersee, you will." With that he walked outside and I sat there…alone.

**(END OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN) **

After three days of being in the Capital hospital they let my prep team work on me. "Oh Madge, when you figured out what the Cato and Clove were planning I cheered you on!" One of them squealed to me. I smiled and nodded numbly.

"And when you joined with Peeta I cried so much! I was rooting for you guys the entire time." I wanted to tell them how it didn't work but I just muttered thanks as one of them ripped hair off my leg.

"Madge is it true you're insane?" One of them asked. My head snapped at one of them and I wanted to scream every swear I knew but I saw the lost look in their eyes.

"I don't know." I said trying to stay calm. "I drift off sometimes and forget where I am, but hopefully I'll be able to get better." One of them, Octavia, burst into tears and ran out. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked. The other two both started sniffling and also ran out. So now I sat in my prep room, alone, with no idea what just happened. Cinna walked in and I ran into his arms. He didn't say anything but just finished my prep team's unfinished work. He applied the last bit of makeup and than handed me a dress. I slipped it on and smiled. It was the color of my eyes but faded into white at the bottom. "No more fire?" I asked.

"No, there still is fire." He pressed a button on my dress and the dress started to wave like it was blue fire.

"Oh my god. Cinna I love it." He smiled and squeezed my shoulder.

"I'm sorry about Peeta." I nodded numbly and gave him a weak smiled. "You excited about going home?" I nodded and I smiled. I would be able to see Katniss, Prim, Mother, Father, and…Josh. Oh god, what if he hates me for killing Peeta? I shook the thought out of my mind and looked at Cinna.

"I'm scared for the interview tonight. I don't think I can do it with out going insane."

"Just try and focus on other things when they're showing the recap. And if you feel like you are going to break down find me in the audience and try to stay cool until you get off stage." I nodded and someone knocked at my door and Haymitch walked in.

"Time for the interview Madge." He hugged me and I hugged him back.

"Wait…you used my real name."

"Don't get used to it." He warned. I was going to laugh but then I remembered the circumstances. "Do good out there." I nodded and the platform started to rise. I had a sudden flashback to when I was rising up into the arena. I breathed in deeply and prepared myself for what was about to come.

As I rose up thousands of people started screaming my name. I put on a winning smile and waved at them. A few people threw roses at me and I caught a few and smelled them. Caesar walked over to me and hugged me. "You ready?" He asked quietly.

"We'll see." I said lightly and flashed a winning smile at the crown. Caesar led me up to the victor's chair and put a crown on my head.

"Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games winner, Madge Undersee!" They roared for me and I smiled and waved. President Snow walked up on the stage and gave the boring speech he always does. I feel like zoning out but I have to stay strong or my family is dead. I smiled as he talked and tried to act like I cared. Once Snow's speech was done Caesar announced it was time to watch the games recap. My nails dug into the chair as the movie started.

It started out with the reaping's. I was amazed how long ago it seemed. I realized how good I had it and I longed for the days I was that innocent. When Peeta was called up I felt a wave a tears coming through me and I swallowed them down. After the reaping's it showed me in the opening ceremonies. I looked at Peeta and I and realized I could not have won without Cinna. He gave me my image, without that I would have just been another District Twelve girl, but he made me Madge the Lava girl.

They skipped through all of the interviews except for Peeta's and mine. I realized the theme of this year's recap was a tragic love story. _Great. _When Peeta announced his love for me I remembered that night and a tear rolled down my cheek. I wiped it off and tried to stop from balling my eyes out in front of all of Panem. When they started to show the games I was disgusted about how much of a career I was. It showed Peeta a few times just sitting around and praying for me to be ok. By now I was gripping Caesar's hand and was holding it just like I did during the opening ceremonies.

It showed me joining the alliance with Peeta and Rue and when Rue died. I should be mad at Clove, but ever sense that dream…I understand her. It showed me killing Clove and I realized how disappointed the Capital that our final showdown was that quick. It cut my speech with Rue and me giving her the flowers. It then showed me and Peeta and a few more tears slid down my cheeks as it showed us talking. It then showed us getting into a fight and I felt like a horrible person. If only I hadn't left Peeta, maybe things would have turned out different.

It didn't even show me with Maria, which irritated me. I guess I was just too rebellious for them. I felt like rolling my eyes but I just kept a blank face. It showed the mutts attacking Thresh, Marvel, and Peeta being mauled. It zoomed in on Peeta and I finally broke down. I started crying so hard I had trouble breathing. Caesar handed me a tissue and I blew my nose. I tried to pull myself together for the end. It showed me giving Peeta the berries when I forgot and I started crying even more.

I closed my eyes shut as Peeta died and tears pushed against my eyelids. I heard a few other people crying and opened my eyes and looked around. The show had finally ended and I looked at Caesar. He smiled and went on to interview me. I just felt empty and mainly answered with yes and no answers. After the interview I ran into Haymitch's arms and started sobbing. I then say Cinna and sobbed in his arms to, I even cried in Effie's arms. After that I curled up into a ball and fell into a fitful sleep.

The next day I sat locked in my room as the train sped to District Twelve. I ate and slept and that's it. I would never talk because when I did I remembered when I talked to Peeta. I knew it was stupid but little things like that hurt the most. Time went by fast and before I knew it, it was the day that we were pulling into District Twelve. I put on a pink dress Cinna made for me and hugged Effie tightly. "Thanks so much Effie. I'll see you next year." Her eyes glistened as she squeaked goodbye.

"I'll miss you Lava girl." I smiled and hugged him.

"Thanks so much Cinna." He patted my shoulder and stepped back. The train door opened and I saw Josh right away. He was standing up front and I ran into his arms. He hugged me and looked me straight into my eyes. "Where are my mother and father?" I asked looking around.

"Oh god, you don't know do you?" I had a sudden wave of anguish in my stomach.

"What?" I asked.

"There was a fire in the Justice Building." Josh said slowly.

"No." I said a wave of tears coming up me. This is because of me.

"And…" He said timidly. It's my fault.

"Just say it." I said harshly. I hate myself.

"Madge?" I looked up in his eyes. "Your mother and father are dead." **(END OF STAY STRONG)**


	15. The Rest

**Hello. Wow, it's been such a long time sense I've updated. I'm so sorry to those of you who had invested themselves in this story and was left with a clifthanger. I'm not going to go into why I didn't update, but I am truly sorry. I was looking around at my old stories tonight and saw this and I decided to load the rest of this. Hope you like it.**

"What did you say?" I said angrily. Peeta's eyes snapped open and he must have realized the mistake he had made.

"Oh my god Madge, I didn't mean to-"

"You said Katniss." I said numbly.

"Yes, but-"

"_You_ said Katniss!" I stood up and started taking some of the supplies. "I'm leaving."

"Madge come on!" He argued. Tears were streaming down my face as I pushed Peeta away from me.

"Peeta this is exactly what I was saying! I cannot be dealing relationship troubles when I'm in the Hunger Games!" My voice softened as I picked up the last of my things and shoved them into a bag. "Peeta we can't do this anymore. I love you, but we just can't." I kissed him one last time and walked out of the cave. Once I was out of the cave I started running into the forest trying to run away from my boy troubles. I ran for hours and hours until I couldn't run any longer. I sat down next to a tree and tried to do busy tasks.

First I set up traps from when that one time Katniss tried to show me how to hunt. After a few hours of trying to teach me how to hunt she declared I was as hopeless as Prim. But I had picked up a few tricks and set up a few snares. After I had started to set up the snares I started to pick a few berries. I was about to put the juicy black berry in my mouth when a voice came up behind me. "Don't! Those are nightlock!" I immediately recognized the name and threw the berry out of my hand. I swung around to see Maria standing there.

"Why tell me?" I asked, picking up my knife. She sighed and fell to the ground.

"Because you need to give those to me." My mouth literally dropped open out of pure shock. Maria went into a crazy coughing fit and a little bit of blood came dripping from her mouth.

"What happened to you?" I asked starting to come close to her.

"Don't come close to me. I drank some water and I guess it was poisoned, because ever sense then I've been…I've been slowly dying. I just want to get it over with, Madge. Can you please give me the nightlock?" She seemed so desperate so I nodded numbly and handed it to her. She put the nightlock in her mouth and swallowed it. I held her in my arms and whispered her last wish in my ears. "Don't let them win." I nodded even though I didn't know what she meant. Maria went into a series of spasms in my arms and had three or four small seizers. Finally her cannon sounded and Maria was put out of her misery.

A single tear rolled down my cheek as I looked at Maria. I closed Maria's eyes and looked at the berries next to Maria. I squeezed the juice out and started to decorate her face. I used the juice as if it was make-up and made her look cold and powerful. Once I was done I stood up and looked at her. "How is this good? How is this going to help anyone out here?" A cutting harshness was coming into my voice. "All of this hate and death in the world, how does it makes things better. I'm done." I sat down and started crying. I'm just done with these games. For the next few hours I sat there until Cato stumbled upon me.

"Why hello there little miss lover girl." He said mockingly. I didn't move or anything as he started to torture me.

_"Madge." A small voice called to me. I kept my head down and kept crying. _

"_Go away._

"_Madge wake up." An older voice said to me. I still kept my head down and cried even more._

"_Please stop. _

"_Oh for Pete's sake, Madge get your stop acting like a little cry baby and look at us!" My head snapped up as I noticed whose voice's these were. Rue, Maria, and Clove stood there looking at me. Well, Clove was sneering at me. I scooted backwards in shock _

_ "W-w-what are you guys doing here? Y-you're…you're" I trailed off. _

_ "Dead. We're dead…all because of you." Clove said ominously. _

_ "Clove, be nice." Rue ordered. It was funny to see tiny little Rue ordering a huge girl like Clove around. As Rue and Clove started bickering I noticed what they were wearing: Rue was wearing a beautiful purple dress that was woven out of the flowers I laid next to her when she died with her hair let down, Clove was wearing a black dress that had knifes woven within it, and Maria wore a white dress that had the designs painted onto it with the dark juice of the nightlock berries. _

_ "Madge!" Clove barked. I snapped back into reality._

_ "What?" I said drowsily. _

_ "We need to tell you something." Maria said sweetly. "You can't give up." She smiled and put her hand on my shoulder. "I just want to thank you for what you did to me. If I had stumbled upon the careers, it wouldn't have been so easy." Clove looked uncomfortable which surprised me. "You are and forever will be my savior. And you made me seem human, thank you." She kissed me on the cheek and faded away. _

_ "Madge, you know I love you. You will always be part of my family in my eyes; you made me happy in these games. These horrible games that tare families apart. Kill their children are killed for what? To make a point?" Rue said. "Madge, don't you ever blame yourself for what happened to me, or Clove. Isn't she what we are victims of the Capital? Learn to forgive Madge, and find the real enemy." I nodded numbly as she hugged me tight. "Good-bye Madge." She to faded away and that left me and Clove. _

_ "Listen I'm not good with long speeches so I'm going to talk fast." _

_ "Ok." I said alertly. _

_ "I'm not mad that you killed me. I was going to do the same. So do not blame yourself for my horrible actions to kill that little girl." I tear slid down her cheek and something amazing happened. The knifes on her dress slid off and the black fabric melted off and unearthed a beautiful white silk gown. Clove looked down in amazement at the dress but then snapped her head at me. "Bu, you can't just let them die in vain. You can let me die in vain; I may deserve it, but think about Rue and Maria. You promised Rue and it is what Maria wants. Do not let them die in vain Madge. Fight: just keep fighting. Stay Strong, Madge." She to faded away and I was alone. _

I snapped out of my trance and looked around at my surroundings. I'm not sure if that was my imagination or if Rue, Maria, and Clove had visited me but I needed to work. Cato had started to slice off one of my fingers when I had woken up. It must have lasted only seconds. I looked around and saw another knife close to me. My finger hurt like crazy but I bit down the pain and wiggled out a leg. He just started to say what are you doing when I kneed him in his…weak spot. He cried out in pain and fell off me. Now the fun starts.

I grabbed the knife and faced Cato. He had gotten up and was now advancing on me. I didn't waste anytime and tackled him. Now, Cato is twice my size but I think I surprised him so he fell to the ground. I stabbed him and the stomach multiple times. I knew that he couldn't survive the stab wounds so I got off of him and sat down next to a tree and watch him. I should have felt happen that I had beat Cato but I felt nothing. "You must be so proud of yourself." Cato said with pain oozing out of his voice.

"Why would I be Cato?" I mumbled. I didn't really care anymore; the only reason I was still fighting was for Rue and Maria. He looked shocked as blood pored out of his body.

"You're not like us are you?" He said quietly.

"No, I hate killing people Cato. I hate killing people knowing their families will hate me forever and spit on my grave. I used to hate doing this, but I don't care anymore." I said defeated. "I'm sorry I had to kill you, I really don't want you to die but I have to keep fighting."

"Do you think I'm going to see Clove?" He asked.

"Yes I do. True love will never be stopped, not even by death." Cato nodded and closed his eyes. His cannon sounded and I sighed. I just killed Cato. _On to the next kill. _ **(END OF CHAPTER FIFTEEN) **

That night Cato and Maria's face came up in the sky. I suddenly realized I was in the final four. _How did I get to the final four?_ I tried to think about who was left and sighed. My mind drifted off and then I looked around me. Tall trees rose above me and I think I saw a lake in the back round. I looked down at myself and was surprised. I had a piece of fabric rapped around my finger and a bunch of cuts and bruises on my body. Dirt was all over my body and I wore a strange outfit. I had aunt Maisley's pin on and I was in shock. Mother never let me wear this. It almost seemed like I was in the Hunger…oh yeah I am.

"Madge don't drift off stay focused." I told myself. I could tell I was going insane. Even if I did win the games I wouldn't be the same. But I couldn't think about that right now, I had to focus. I thought really hard and realized I was the only girl left. I think it was Peeta, Thresh, Marvel, and I. I was surprised that Marvel had made it to the final four, but I guess I killed off the rest of the careers. Trumpets blared around the arena and the voice of Cladious Templesmith came after them.

"Hello the final four tributes! You may notice that the rivers are run dry and there are no more animals. It is time for a feast in the Hunger Games. At the Cornucopia is food and water. The food will be taken away when the sun goes down this evening. May the odds be ever in your favor." There was a burst of static and then the sound was gone. I sighed. Of course they were doing a feast. The Capital must be inpatient because…why would they be inpatient? Why would I care? Oh yeah, I'm in the Hunger Games. I sighed and packed up my knifes. I decided that I wouldn't kill Thresh because of Rue.

I couldn't admit to myself but deep down I knew I couldn't kill Peeta either. But Marvel, I didn't care about him. I walked towards the Cornucopia and tried to find my competitors. I saw Thresh coming out from a field. I guess that were he's been hiding in these…these…games, that's right. I saw a flash of blonde hair coming out of the forest. _Peeta._ I didn't waste any time and ran at the Cornucopia and started to grab some supplies.

Marvel ran in from the woods and was wearing body armor. I thought he was at first charging at me but he looked back like he was running from something. I looked a little bit past him and saw dog mutations running after him. My eye's widened and I started to climb up the Cornucopia. It was difficult but thankfully I made it up to the top of the Cornucopia. I noticed somehow Peeta had managed to get up on the Cornucopia with me and I smiled at him. He smiled back but then his frown dissolved as he looked at the mutations. "Madge…" He said his voice rising into a yell.

"What?" I asked turning around to see what the mutations really were. They were the dead tributes. They had the same hair color and the same eyes as them. Marvel had just barley made it up on the Cornucopia but Thresh wasn't so lucky. The dogs caught up with him and started tearing him apart. His scream rose through the air. "Oh my god that poor boy! Why are those dogs attacking him?" The two boys looked at me in shock like, I should know. I think one of them is the baker's son in District Twelve.

"Madge?" I looked the baker's son and his deep blue eyes and realized who he was.

"Sorry." I said and looked over at Marvel. He grabbed Peeta and put a knife to his neck. First off I took out a knife and threw it and killed Thresh. I couldn't bear to listen to him suffer anymore. I turned to Marvel and held my knife. "Let. Him. Go." I said in a strong voice.

"Sure." He said in a smug voice. He pushed Peeta off of the Cornucopia and I heard a sickening scream as Peeta fell to his death. I finally felt something.

"No!" I screamed and ran at Marvel. I tackled him and pinned him to the ground. "Say you're sorry." I said in a small voice.

"No." He smiled. I looked over and noticed a sward he had brought. I grabbed the sward and sliced off his head and it rolled off the Cornucopia. The mutation that represented Glimmer grabbed his head and ran into the forest. The other mutations followed her and ran off. I scooted off the Cornucopia and ran over to Peeta. One of his legs was clean off and I could barley make out his face.

"Peeta, oh Peeta." I said looking at him.

"I'm sorry. It's you I want Madge, not Katniss." He said. I shook my head and kissed him.

"It's ok Peeta. I love you so much. We're going to be ok." I said and kissed him again. His blood stuck to my face as I tried to kiss him again and again.

"Madge. I did what I wanted to do. I kept you safe and now you're going home."

"No Peeta. Not without you. I can't survive without you." I could see this hurt him but he looked me in the eyes.

"Madge, even if somehow you convinced them to let us both win, they couldn't save me. Keep fighting Madge, always. Never give up. And if you feel like you need to be with me, take this." He took out a piece of fabric and handed it to me. "It was my grandmother's. I love you Madge."

"I love you to."

"Then give me the nightlock." He pointed to nightlock I had stuffed in my pocket.

"No, Peeta I can't."

"Please. It hurt so badly. Please make it stop." He begged.

"Oh my god are you ok? What happened to you?" I asked. The poor boy had been torn apart and there was blood everywhere.

"Madge it's me-" The boy paused for a moment then smiled weakly. "Can you give me those berries in your pocket? They'll make me feel better." I nodded numbly and handed him the berries. "I love, don't ever forget that."

"What?" He plopped one of the berries in his mouth and smiled. I think I knew him. He was from District Twelve. Wait, that's Peeta. I tried to get him to spit it them out but it was to late. His was quicker than Maria's. He jerked his head to the side and died. Trumpets blared and Cladious Templesmith's voice declared.

"Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the victor of the Seventy-fourth Annual Hunger Games, the District Twelve female tribute, Madge Undersee!" **(END OF CHAPTER SIXTEEN)**

I'm in a white room. I ace a little bit but I don't see why I look fine. There is a plastic tube coming out of my arm and into a bag of purple liquid. I was in here because…because…oh yeah right I won. Just then a blue skinned doctor came in with Haymitch. I don't know why but my eye's started to water at the sight of Haymitch. Sure he didn't give me one sponsor gift throughout the entire games, but I didn't need any. Why wouldn't I need them? Everyone in the Hunger Games needs them unless you're with the…careers. "Hello Madge. How are you feeling today?" The doctor asked. His accent was very thick and was hard to understand.

"Ok. Can I see Peeta now?" I didn't want to be rude but I really wanted to see him. Tears showed up in both of their eyes. "What?"

"Uh, sweetheart, Peeta didn't make it. Remember him with the berries?" Haymitch asked me. I thought really hard and than I remembered. I remembered Peeta being maimed by the mutations and him begging me to give him the nightlock berries.

"Oh yeah." I said quietly. I tear rolled down my cheek but that was it. I was done crying. Haymitch whispered something in his ear and they both walked outside. I decided I wanted to know what they were talking about so I grabbed onto the pole that was giving me my medicine and used it as I way to walk. I put my ear to the door and heard a little bit of their conversation.

"I don't know. She seems very unstable." The doctor said. I had no idea what or who they were talking about but I'm guessing me.

"Will she do the interview?" Haymitch asked.

"Of course! This is the one year I get a winner and I won't miss out on the interview!" Effie's shrill voice argued.

"But what if she forgets what's going on?" Haymitch asked.

"I'm going to have to past victors talk to her about that." The doctor said. "Oh, here they are." My heart started racing as I rushed back to my bed. I heard a knock at the door and Haymitch walked in.

"Sweetheart I have two people here that would like to talk to you." Right away I recognized them: Annie Cresta and Finnick Odair both victors from District Four. Annie has been insane ever sense she left the games. I guess she's kind of like me. Maybe that's why she's here but why is Finnick here? Finnick is the most gorgeous man I've ever seen and is the personal sex toy of the Capital. I noticed the way he looked at her and understood. It's the way Peeta looked at me at the end of the games. He loves her and she loves him.

"Hello Madge." Finnick said and smiled.

"Hi Finnick. I'm sorry about your tributes. They were the only good careers." He nodded but then gave me an odd look.

"Not you?" I shook my head in disgust.

"I killed eleven kids in there! I killed almost half of the kids that entered the arena." I argued. He changed the subject and looked at Annie. She was playing with her hair looking at the wall when he tapped her shoulder.

"Annie, this is Madge. Do you remember seeing her in the games?"

"Yeah I remember." She said in an airy voice. "At first I thought you were mean, but then I realized you were nice. Oh, I'm sorry about Peeta. I thought this would be the year." She mumbled and went back to looking at the wall.

"What does she mean?" I asked.

"She thought they were going to let you both win." I gave him a dumbfounded look.

"My friend said something like that once. But that's not possible, they're the Capital." He nodded a little and walked outside with Haymitch. I looked over at Annie who was off in her own little world so I walked over to the door again and listened in.

"So what do you think?" Haymitch asked.

"Yeah, she's the one." I could tell they were about to start rambling when they both went quiet.

"What are you doing here?" Haymitch asked with an edge on his voice.

"That is between Miss. Undersee and him." Someone's voice said.

I ran back to my bed and looked at Annie. She sat the same way she did when I went to the door and still stared at the door. A Peace Keeper walked in and told Annie she had to leave the room.

"Why does Annie have to leave?" I asked apprehensively. The Peace Keeper ignored me and just escorted Annie out of the room. My heart was racing as I saw a man walk into the room. He reeked of blood and roses and I immediately recognized him. "President Snow." I said in amazement. I knew eventually I was going to meet him…but meeting him right now was just…weird. I've never seen him in a place that wasn't a stage. He gave me a wicked smile and sat at the end of my bed.

"Hello Miss. Undersee, congratulations on winning." I gave a small smile and mumbled.

"Thanks." He chuckled and looked at me.

"Miss. Undersee, you have many men in the Capital that admire you. They want to spend more time with you…and I know that you are a busy lady but next time you come up to the Capital…you will spend the night with them."

"You want me to be a prostitute." I murmured. He nodded and looked at me. "No. No. No!" I screamed. "I will not be your slave!"

"So no?" He said calmly. I gave him a cold glare and didn't say anything. He nodded and got up. "You will regret this Miss. Undersee, you will." With that he walked outside and I sat there…alone.

**(END OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN) **

After three days of being in the Capital hospital they let my prep team work on me. "Oh Madge, when you figured out what the Cato and Clove were planning I cheered you on!" One of them squealed to me. I smiled and nodded numbly.

"And when you joined with Peeta I cried so much! I was rooting for you guys the entire time." I wanted to tell them how it didn't work but I just muttered thanks as one of them ripped hair off my leg.

"Madge is it true you're insane?" One of them asked. My head snapped at one of them and I wanted to scream every swear I knew but I saw the lost look in their eyes.

"I don't know." I said trying to stay calm. "I drift off sometimes and forget where I am, but hopefully I'll be able to get better." One of them, Octavia, burst into tears and ran out. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked. The other two both started sniffling and also ran out. So now I sat in my prep room, alone, with no idea what just happened. Cinna walked in and I ran into his arms. He didn't say anything but just finished my prep team's unfinished work. He applied the last bit of makeup and than handed me a dress. I slipped it on and smiled. It was the color of my eyes but faded into white at the bottom. "No more fire?" I asked.

"No, there still is fire." He pressed a button on my dress and the dress started to wave like it was blue fire.

"Oh my god. Cinna I love it." He smiled and squeezed my shoulder.

"I'm sorry about Peeta." I nodded numbly and gave him a weak smiled. "You excited about going home?" I nodded and I smiled. I would be able to see Katniss, Prim, Mother, Father, and…Josh. Oh god, what if he hates me for killing Peeta? I shook the thought out of my mind and looked at Cinna.

"I'm scared for the interview tonight. I don't think I can do it with out going insane."

"Just try and focus on other things when they're showing the recap. And if you feel like you are going to break down find me in the audience and try to stay cool until you get off stage." I nodded and someone knocked at my door and Haymitch walked in.

"Time for the interview Madge." He hugged me and I hugged him back.

"Wait…you used my real name."

"Don't get used to it." He warned. I was going to laugh but then I remembered the circumstances. "Do good out there." I nodded and the platform started to rise. I had a sudden flashback to when I was rising up into the arena. I breathed in deeply and prepared myself for what was about to come.

As I rose up thousands of people started screaming my name. I put on a winning smile and waved at them. A few people threw roses at me and I caught a few and smelled them. Caesar walked over to me and hugged me. "You ready?" He asked quietly.

"We'll see." I said lightly and flashed a winning smile at the crown. Caesar led me up to the victor's chair and put a crown on my head.

"Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games winner, Madge Undersee!" They roared for me and I smiled and waved. President Snow walked up on the stage and gave the boring speech he always does. I feel like zoning out but I have to stay strong or my family is dead. I smiled as he talked and tried to act like I cared. Once Snow's speech was done Caesar announced it was time to watch the games recap. My nails dug into the chair as the movie started.

It started out with the reaping's. I was amazed how long ago it seemed. I realized how good I had it and I longed for the days I was that innocent. When Peeta was called up I felt a wave a tears coming through me and I swallowed them down. After the reaping's it showed me in the opening ceremonies. I looked at Peeta and I and realized I could not have won without Cinna. He gave me my image, without that I would have just been another District Twelve girl, but he made me Madge the Lava girl.

They skipped through all of the interviews except for Peeta's and mine. I realized the theme of this year's recap was a tragic love story. _Great. _When Peeta announced his love for me I remembered that night and a tear rolled down my cheek. I wiped it off and tried to stop from balling my eyes out in front of all of Panem. When they started to show the games I was disgusted about how much of a career I was. It showed Peeta a few times just sitting around and praying for me to be ok. By now I was gripping Caesar's hand and was holding it just like I did during the opening ceremonies.

It showed me joining the alliance with Peeta and Rue and when Rue died. I should be mad at Clove, but ever sense that dream…I understand her. It showed me killing Clove and I realized how disappointed the Capital that our final showdown was that quick. It cut my speech with Rue and me giving her the flowers. It then showed me and Peeta and a few more tears slid down my cheeks as it showed us talking. It then showed us getting into a fight and I felt like a horrible person. If only I hadn't left Peeta, maybe things would have turned out different.

It didn't even show me with Maria, which irritated me. I guess I was just too rebellious for them. I felt like rolling my eyes but I just kept a blank face. It showed the mutts attacking Thresh, Marvel, and Peeta being mauled. It zoomed in on Peeta and I finally broke down. I started crying so hard I had trouble breathing. Caesar handed me a tissue and I blew my nose. I tried to pull myself together for the end. It showed me giving Peeta the berries when I forgot and I started crying even more.

I closed my eyes shut as Peeta died and tears pushed against my eyelids. I heard a few other people crying and opened my eyes and looked around. The show had finally ended and I looked at Caesar. He smiled and went on to interview me. I just felt empty and mainly answered with yes and no answers. After the interview I ran into Haymitch's arms and started sobbing. I then say Cinna and sobbed in his arms to, I even cried in Effie's arms. After that I curled up into a ball and fell into a fitful sleep.

The next day I sat locked in my room as the train sped to District Twelve. I ate and slept and that's it. I would never talk because when I did I remembered when I talked to Peeta. I knew it was stupid but little things like that hurt the most. Time went by fast and before I knew it, it was the day that we were pulling into District Twelve. I put on a pink dress Cinna made for me and hugged Effie tightly. "Thanks so much Effie. I'll see you next year." Her eyes glistened as she squeaked goodbye.

"I'll miss you Lava girl." I smiled and hugged him.

"Thanks so much Cinna." He patted my shoulder and stepped back. The train door opened and I saw Josh right away. He was standing up front and I ran into his arms. He hugged me and looked me straight into my eyes. "Where are my mother and father?" I asked looking around.

"Oh god, you don't know do you?" I had a sudden wave of anguish in my stomach.

"What?" I asked.

"There was a fire in the Justice Building." Josh said slowly.

"No." I said a wave of tears coming up me. This is because of me.

"And…" He said timidly. It's my fault.

"Just say it." I said harshly. I hate myself.

"Madge?" I looked up in his eyes. "Your mother and father are dead." **(END OF STAY STRONG)**


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